- A zone of a zoned block device is in the open state when it is partially
- written (i.e. not all sectors of the zone have been written). Zoned
- block devices may have a limit on the total number of zones that can
- be simultaneously in the open state, that is, the number of zones that
- can be written to simultaneously. The :option:`max_open_zones` parameter
- limits the number of zones to which write commands are issued by all fio
- jobs, that is, limits the number of zones that will be in the open
- state. This parameter is relevant only if the :option:`zonemode` =zbd is
- used. The default value is always equal to maximum number of open zones
- of the target zoned block device and a value higher than this limit
- cannot be specified by users unless the option
- :option:`ignore_zone_limits` is specified. When
- :option:`ignore_zone_limits` is specified or the target device has no
- limit on the number of zones that can be in an open state,
- :option:`max_open_zones` can specify 0 to disable any limit on the
- number of zones that can be simultaneously written to by all jobs.
+ When a zone of a zoned block device is partially written (i.e. not all
+ sectors of the zone have been written), the zone is in one of three
+ conditions: 'implicit open', 'explicit open' or 'closed'. Zoned block
+ devices may have a limit called 'max_open_zones' (same name as the
+ parameter) on the total number of zones that can simultaneously be in
+ the 'implicit open' or 'explicit open' conditions. Zoned block devices
+ may have another limit called 'max_active_zones', on the total number of
+ zones that can simultaneously be in the three conditions. The
+ :option:`max_open_zones` parameter limits the number of zones to which
+ write commands are issued by all fio jobs, that is, limits the number of
+ zones that will be in the conditions. When the device has the
+ max_open_zones limit and does not have the max_active_zones limit, the
+ :option:`max_open_zones` parameter limits the number of zones in the two
+ open conditions up to the limit. In this case, fio includes zones in the
+ two open conditions to the write target zones at fio start. When the
+ device has both the max_open_zones and the max_active_zones limits, the
+ :option:`max_open_zones` parameter limits the number of zones in the
+ three conditions up to the limit. In this case, fio includes zones in
+ the three conditions to the write target zones at fio start.
+
+ This parameter is relevant only if the :option:`zonemode` =zbd is used.
+ The default value is always equal to the max_open_zones limit of the
+ target zoned block device and a value higher than this limit cannot be
+ specified by users unless the option :option:`ignore_zone_limits` is
+ specified. When :option:`ignore_zone_limits` is specified or the target
+ device does not have the max_open_zones limit, :option:`max_open_zones`
+ can specify 0 to disable any limit on the number of zones that can be
+ simultaneously written to by all jobs.