BeeGFS
BeeGFS is a parallel file system for high-performance computing, AI, and other data-intensive workloads.
What BeeGFS is
BeeGFS is a parallel file system for high-performance computing, AI, and other data-intensive workloads. Its services run in user space over filesystems such as ext4, XFS, and ZFS, and metadata can be spread across multiple servers. BeeGFS is designed to scale performance and capacity from small clusters to systems with thousands of nodes. Native client and server components are available for Linux across x86_64, AMD, ARM, OpenPower, and other CPU architectures.
BeeGFS 8 Remote Storage Targets synchronize with S3 object storage, while BeeGFS Copy supports parallel transfers involving BeeGFS and other locally mounted file systems. System-wide monitoring and Grafana dashboards show performance and health. Hive Enterprise adds high availability, mirroring, quota enforcement, and storage pools with tiering. The Community Edition costs nothing for up to 1 PB of total storage and is for self-supported end users; going above that capacity requires a subscription license. ThinkParQ GmbH, its maker, was founded in Germany in 2014.
Good
- Community Edition is free up to 1 PB.
- Metadata can be distributed across servers.
- Designed to scale to thousands of nodes.
- Includes system-wide monitoring and Grafana dashboards.
- Hive Enterprise adds mirroring and tiered pools.
Watch out
- More than 1 PB requires a subscription license.
- Community Edition is for self-supported end users.
- Commercial third-party services require Enterprise licensing.
Who it suits
BeeGFS suits teams in HPC, AI and deep learning, life sciences, or oil and gas that need shared storage for data-intensive workloads. The Community Edition is for end users prepared to support themselves.
Verdict
BeeGFS offers a scalable parallel file system with monitoring and Linux support across multiple CPU architectures. The free Community Edition has a 1 PB ceiling and self-support restriction; enterprise features require a separate subscription offering.
Plans and prices
From BeeGFS's own pricing page, checked 30 Sep 2026.
| Plan | Price | What it gives you |
|---|---|---|
| Community Edition | Free | up to 1 PB total storage · BeeOND up to 5 compute nodes contributing storage · self-supported end users |
| Hive Enterprise | Priced on request | unlimited capacity · professional support contract · high availability · mirroring · quota enforcement · storage pools |
The facts
Each one read from BeeGFS's own pages, with the date it was checked.
What it does
- Architecture
- Its user-space services run over filesystems such as ext4, XFS, and ZFS, with metadata distributed across multiple servers.checked 30 Sep 2026
- Community license limit
- The Community Edition is free for up to 1 PB of total storage, and exceeding that threshold requires a subscription-based license.checked 30 Sep 2026
- Community use restriction
- The Community Edition is for self-supported end users; commercial third-party services and system integration offerings require Enterprise licensing.checked 30 Sep 2026
- Enterprise features
- Hive Enterprise includes high availability, metadata and file-content mirroring, quota enforcement, and storage pools with tiering.checked 30 Sep 2026
- Integrations
- BeeGFS 8 Remote Storage Targets synchronize with S3 object storage, while BeeGFS Copy supports parallel copying with BeeGFS and other locally mounted file systems.checked 30 Sep 2026
- Intended users
- ThinkParQ describes its target environments as HPC, AI and deep learning, life sciences, and oil and gas.checked 30 Sep 2026
- Monitoring
- BeeGFS provides system-wide monitoring and Grafana dashboards to inspect system performance and health.checked 30 Sep 2026
- Purpose
- BeeGFS is a parallel file system designed for high-performance computing, AI, and other data-intensive workloads.checked 30 Sep 2026
- Scale
- BeeGFS can scale performance and capacity from small clusters to enterprise systems with thousands of nodes.checked 30 Sep 2026
- Security
- BeeGFS repositories and packages are digitally signed, and its documentation describes TLS encryption for some network communication by default.checked 30 Sep 2026
- Support
- Hive Enterprise includes professional support, and BeeOND Enterprise lists 5×9 Next Business Day support with 24x7x4 available upon request.checked 30 Sep 2026
The company
- Founded
- 2014checked 28 Sep 2026
- Headquarters
- Kaiserslautern, Germanychecked 28 Sep 2026
- Maker
- ThinkParQ GmbH was founded in 2014 as a spin-out of the Fraunhofer Center for High-Performance Computing in Germany.checked 30 Sep 2026
Where it runs
- Linux support
- The native BeeGFS client and server components are available for Linux on x86_64, AMD, ARM, OpenPower, and other CPU architectures.checked 30 Sep 2026
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