Storage ZFS vs ZFS directory

szymon1051

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Jun 17, 2021
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Why if in storage chose ZFS can only in content "Disk image, Container", but if I chose ZFS but as directory in content can all "Disk image, ISO image, Container template, VZDump backup file, Container, Snippets"?
 
because zfs as dir is a fuse mount on a zfs dataset from type fs. zfs direkt connect a zfs pool.
 
Storage type "ZFSpool" is directly using block devices (zvols) for the virtual disks without the overhead of an additional filesystem to store image files. And it can make use of ZFS features like snapshots.
A storage of type "dir" won't make directly use of those ZFS features as it is just a folder on any filesystem and must rely on qcow2 for things like snapshots.
 
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Please allow me to add some details to that.
Storage type "ZFSpool" is directly using block devices (zvols) for the virtual disks without the overhead of an additional filesystem to store image files. And it can make use of ZFS features like snapshots.
The lack of filesystem is why it cannot store files like ISOs, container templates, vzdump backup files, etc. That's what you need directory storage for.
A storage of type "dir" won't make directly use of those ZFS features as it is just a folder on any filesystem and must rely on qcow2 for things ike snapshots.
Virtual disks can be stored in files (.raw or .qcow2), which can then be stored in directories, but this is not as optimal as ZFS block storage.
There is a also a section in the Proxmox manual about which features are supported by which storage types.
 
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