MooseFS vs OpenAFS

MooseFS is distributed storage software that combines data held across multiple servers into one resource. It can be mounted as a POSIX filesystem, used as a block device, or accessed through the C API. Reads and writes run across multiple chunkservers, so adding servers can increase both storage capacity and bandwidth. MooseFS replicates data chunks and restores missing copies after disk or node loss. The Community edition is open source under GPLv2, with one active master and single-parity erasure coding. Personal provides the full Pro feature set for non-commercial use, free up to 20 TiB of used raw space; beyond that, the listed price is €9 as a one-time purchase for each TiB. Pro adds synchronized master failover and support for clusters spanning locations. MooseFS 5 adds cluster-wide authentication. Official packages are offered for Linux distributions, FreeBSD, Raspberry Pi OS, and macOS; macOS requires macFUSE and macOS 12 or later. The native Windows client is included with Pro.

OpenAFS is a free, open-source implementation of the AFS distributed filesystem for accessing network files as though they were local. Location transparency lets users keep the same pathname when administrators move files between machines. AFS supports federated sharing and read-only replication across file servers, while the client Cache Manager keeps files in disk or memory cache to reduce repeated network requests. Kerberos authentication uses tokens for authenticated status, and directory access control lists define user and group permissions. Clients and servers mutually authenticate, with server processes encrypting particularly sensitive information sent to clients. However, commands in the fs, pts, and vos suites do not encrypt data before transmission. OpenAFS supports Linux, macOS, Windows, and self-hosted deployment, with AFS access plus NFS and SMB/CIFS options listed. The project lists version 1.8.16.1 as a June 2026 UNIX/Linux maintenance release and distributes it under the IBM Public License. Administrators assign each AFS volume a size limit or quota.