Driver
Name Driver
Identifier Description Related API

POSIX `H5FD_SEC2` This driver uses POSIX file-system functions like read and write to perform I/O to a single, permanent file on local disk with no system buffering. This driver is POSIX-compliant and is the default file driver for all systems. `H5Pset_fapl_sec2`

Direct `H5FD_DIRECT` This is the `H5FD_SEC2` driver except data is written to or read from the file synchronously without being cached by the system. `H5Pset_fapl_direct`

Log `H5FD_LOG` This is the `H5FD_SEC2` driver with logging capabilities. `H5Pset_fapl_log`

Windows `H5FD_WINDOWS` This driver was modified in HDF5-1.8.8 to be a wrapper of the POSIX driver, H5FD_SEC2. This change should not affect user applications. `H5Pset_fapl_windows`

STDIO `H5FD_STDIO` This driver uses functions from the standard C `stdio.h` to perform I/O to a single, permanent file on local disk with additional system buffering. `H5Pset_fapl_stdio`

Memory `H5FD_CORE` With this driver, an application can work with a file in memory for faster reads and writes. File contents are kept in memory until the file is closed. At closing, the memory version of the file can be written back to disk or abandoned. `H5Pset_fapl_core`

Family `H5FD_FAMILY` With this driver, the HDF5 file’s address space is partitioned into pieces and sent to separate storage files using an underlying driver of the user’s choice. This driver is for systems that do not support files larger than 2 gigabytes. `H5Pset_fapl_family`

Multi `H5FD_MULTI` With this driver, data can be stored in multiple files according to the type of the data. I/O might work better if data is stored in separate files based on the type of data. The Split driver is a special case of this driver. `H5Pset_fapl_multi`

Split `H5FD_SPLIT` This file driver splits a file into two parts. One part stores metadata, and the other part stores raw data. This splitting a file into two parts is a limited case of the Multi driver. `H5Pset_fapl_split`

Parallel `H5FD_MPIO` This is the standard HDF5 file driver for parallel file systems. This driver uses the MPI standard for both communication and file I/O. `H5Pset_fapl_mpio`

Parallel POSIX `H5FD_MPIPOSIX` This driver is no longer available.

Stream `H5FD_STREAM` This driver is no longer available.