Why and how should I use ZFS on my NAS, when Windows can't use ZFS?

Question

Every where I read something about NAS RAIDs its said that data should be saved in ZFS.

I cannot find answers to my questions.

1) Why should I save my data in a file-system that cannot be used by Windows 10?

2) How can I save data from my Windows 10 PC on a ZFS filesystem on the NAS when Windows does use NTFS is this even possible?

Answer 1

1. ZFS is a new type of file system with some distinct advantages over most other file systems - It uses a radically different design to regular file systems like NFTS, FAT, EXT4 etc which (a) ensures data is always consistent - and even if the data becomes inconsistent through bit-rot, it can detect and repair it, (b) gets around the "write hole" problem where a power failure occurs during write in a RAID array - this allows it to better ensure data integrity. It's also designed to make maximum use of caches - including read and write (to SSD) caching so it is very efficient. Its Achilles heel is memory issues - you really want to ensure the box that's running on it has reliable memory - ideally ECC memory which can detect and sometimes recover from corruption.

2. When Windows is using a NAS, it sees it as a network drive, and talks to it using a defined protocol (typically SMB/CIFS). This shares FILES without being particularly concerned what the underlying file system is. Only the NAS which is doing the serving needs to know what the file system is. So the Windows box says to the NAS box "here is a file, please store it in this directory". The NAS box says "OK", and uses whatever file system it wants.