"Ferd" == Ferd Berfl ferd_berfl@yahoo.com writes:
> re: snapshots, I thought that everyone else's snapshot > functionality other than Netapp's must be based on a "copy on > write" method because Netapp has a patent on continuously > writing new blocks.
WAFL uses copy-on-write. Here, straight from the horse's mouth:
WAFL uses a copy-on-write technique to minimize the disk space that Snapshots consume.
http://www.netapp.com/tech_library/3002.html
Now, Netapp's implementation may be unique, but to say that WAFL doesn't use copy-on-write and to make a claim like "copy-on-write is slow, Netapp doesn't use it" is bogus.
j. -- Jay Soffian jay@loudcloud.com System Administrator 408 744 7584 Loudcloud, Inc.