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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Write_Anywhere_File_Layout

Well, I can't say that I haven't given it a try, but I really don't know that much about computers so I'm not really sure what these sources are talking about. I do understand, however, that designers have tried to make it so that reading data is done from RAM, while writing is done directly to disk. Can someone explain why things are this way, and sort of the high-level pictures of how Write-Anywhere File Systems work?

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Basically, why does the "write-anywhere" make writes any faster? I thought sequential writes were always faster than "writing anywhere"... – Dark Templar Oct 14 '11 at 2:42

closed as not a real question by MikeyB, Steven Monday, Mark Henderson♦ Oct 14 '11 at 3:41

It's difficult to tell what is being asked here. This question is ambiguous, vague, incomplete, overly broad, or rhetorical and cannot be reasonably answered in its current form. For help clarifying this question so that it can be reopened, see the FAQ.

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Your question seems somewhat confused. WAFL is the name for a proprietary filesystem used in the products of the company NetApp. If you'd like to learn more about filesystem design or the importance of caching, that's great, but this isn't the right place to ask.

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Where's the right Stack Exchange category? – Dark Templar Oct 14 '11 at 20:03

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