VZ

Virtual file system (VFS): Architecture that provides a standard interface for different file system types. The VFS architecture enables the kernel to handle basic operations, such as reading, writing, and listing files, and makes it easier to add new file systems.

Virtual volume: Grouping disk partitions across several disks to appear as one single volume to the operating system.

Volume manager: Simplifies the use of disks and CDs by automatically mounting them using the vold daemon.

Volume: A group of physical slices that are accessed as a single logical device by concatenation, striping, mirroring, setting up RAID5 volumes, or logging physical devices. After they are created, volumes are used like slices. The volume maps logical block addresses to the correct location on one of the physical devices. The type of mapping depends on the configuration of the particular volume. Also known as a pseudo device or virtual device in standard Unix terms.

WAN (wide area network): A network that connects multiple local-area networks (LANs) or systems at different geographical sites via phone, fiber-optic, or satellite links.

Warm plug: The ability to replace a failed disk drive without powering down the storage array and without rebooting the host computer system. This is an important aspect of high availability. See hot pluggable.

Web Start Flash: An installation feature that enables you to create a single reference installation (Web Start Flash archive) of the Solaris operating environment on a machine, which is called the master machine. After installing the operating system onto the master machine, you can add or delete software and modify system configuration information as necessary. You then create a Web Start archive from this master machine and can use this archive to replicate that installation on a number of systems, which are called clone machines.

Web Start: An installation program located on the Solaris Installation CD-ROM that can be run with a graphical user interface (GUI) or with a command-line interface (CLI). Using Solaris Web Start and Sun's Web browser, you select either a default installation or a customize option to install only the software you want, including the Solaris software group, Solstice utilities, and additional software. You can also use Web Start to upgrade your operating system.

XOR: eXclusive OR. A binary mathematical operation performed on data to produce parity information. In RAID level 5, parity is generated from user data and is used to regenerate any user data that is lost due to a drive failure.