POSIX, no rewrites
A standard POSIX namespace with Unix permissions and ACLs. Applications mount it and read and write files the way they always have — no library, no SDK, no protocol change.
What is MooseFS
A distributed POSIX file system, built for scale
MooseFS is a software-defined, distributed POSIX file system developed by Saglabs SA. It pools storage across commodity x86-64 servers into one fault-tolerant namespace that mounts like an ordinary file system — so applications keep using the file APIs they already know, while the storage layer grows, heals, and rebalances underneath them.
The project started 18+ years ago in production and still stores over 6 PB of data in its original deployment, absorbing high-frequency event traffic, 24/7. That environment is where every change is exercised before it reaches our customers. MooseFS ships in two editions: a free, open-source Community edition and a Pro edition for organisations that need enterprise features and manufacturer support.
Key concepts
What makes it MooseFS
A short tour of the ideas that define the system. Each one is expanded on the Advantages & Features page.
Distributed & fault-tolerant
No single point of failure. File-system metadata is kept in two or more copies on redundant servers, and user data is spread redundantly across storage nodes — failures are handled automatically and transparently.
Parallel by design
Reads and writes happen in parallel across many storage nodes, so there’s no central server or single network link to become the bottleneck. Performance scales with the cluster.
Commodity hardware
Runs on standard x86-64 servers from any manufacturer, mixing SATA / SAS and SSD / HDD in the same cluster. Old and new hardware coexist, and rolling upgrades keep the system online while you replace it.
Scales to exabytes
A single MooseFS instance can grow up to 16 exabytes (~16,000 PB) and over two billion files, with a pay-as-you-grow model — start small, add nodes when you need them.
Native clients
Purpose-built mount clients for Linux, FreeBSD and macOS, plus a native Windows client. Your servers mount MooseFS like any other file system.
Next steps
See it in detail or get it running
A full list of advantages and features sits one click away. If you’d rather start hands-on, grab the Community edition and spin up a cluster.