Every design decision in OviOS starts with a single question: does this make storage faster, safer, or more reliable?
OviOS 6.2 boots entirely into RAM and keeps its whole configuration on your ZFS pools. Every boot, from any medium, gives you the same storage controller back. Installing to disk is optional.
Boot with ovios.autorestore=1 and every configuration change is saved to your pools. After a
restart or crash the node restores its iSCSI, NFS, SMB and options before services start, with no manual
step.
Boot from USB, ISO or PXE. The entire OS runs from memory, and every drive bay is free for data.
There is no OS disk to wear out, patch in place or back up. A dead USB stick costs you minutes, not a rebuild.
Two separate, built-in tools: ovios-cluster mirrors your primary to a secondary, which can sit at your DR site, and retadm replicates your data for backup and recovery. No third-party add-ons required.
Replicate volumes and LUNs to one or several remote nodes, usable for recovery with manual intervention. A full copy first, then fast incremental updates, running in the background. retadm doctor and retadm repair fix a broken replication.
A secondary that mirrors the primary, even at your DR site. Clusters of any size, witness nodes and tiebreakers, monitoring, fencing, configuration sync and manual failover are free, forever.
With a license the cluster fails over on its own. If the license expires, the cluster keeps running with manual failover.
Email us for a free test license. License terms are in the Terms & License.
OviOS speaks the languages your infrastructure already uses.
High-performance NFS with Kerberos auth, pNFS multipath, and tuned kernel NFS daemon.
Samba integration with Active Directory join, DFS namespaces, and Windows ACL support.
High-performance iSCSI target with multipath I/O, CHAP authentication, and thin provisioning with client discard/UNMAP space reclamation.
ovios-cluster mirrors your primary (HA and DR) and retadm replicates for backup. See Use Cases
Built-in MinIO-compatible S3 gateway — expose ZFS datasets as S3 buckets instantly. MinIO source code is available under AGPL v3 license.
NVMe over Fabrics (TCP + RDMA) for ultra-low latency block access at network speed.
OviOS is engineered around OpenZFS from day one — not added later through compatibility layers, external modules, or fragile workarounds. The result is a Linux platform where storage, reliability, and performance operate as one system.
End-to-end checksums verify every block. Silent corruption is detected automatically, with self-repair available through mirrors and RAID-Z redundancy.
ARC memory caching accelerates active workloads, while optional NVMe or SSD-based L2ARC expands read performance for larger datasets.
Create snapshots in seconds, clone environments instantly, and roll back safely without interrupting production workloads.
RAID-Z protection eliminates legacy RAID write-hole risks while enabling flexible growth across multiple storage vdevs.
Inline LZ4 and ZSTD compression reduce storage usage and can improve throughput by lowering physical disk I/O.
Native per-dataset encryption protects data at rest with modern cryptography and flexible key workflows.
An interactive, smart CLI written in Go that abstracts complex storage management. Set up a fully functional storage OS in minutes — no storage protocol knowledge required. Whether you're a beginner or a power user, ovios-shell works for you.
No need to understand ZFS, iSCSI, or NFS protocols. ovios-shell guides you through every step with smart defaults and clear options.
Create pools, volumes, LUNs, and shares through intuitive menus. Go from bare metal to serving storage in minutes.
The options command unlocks complete control over every configuration parameter for advanced users and edge cases.
Real-time validation, contextual help, and smart suggestions make configuration intuitive and error-free.
Download the ISO and boot it. No install required, and your configuration persists on your pools.