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+### Checksums and Their Use in ZFS
+
+End-to-end checksums are a key feature of ZFS and an important differentiator
+for ZFS over other RAID implementations and filesystems.
+Advantages of end-to-end checksums include:
++ detects data corruption upon reading from media
++ blocks that are detected as corrupt are automatically repaired if possible, by
+using the RAID protection in suitably configured pools, or redundant copies (see 
+the zfs `copies` property)
++ periodic scrubs can check data to detect and repair latent media degradation
+(bit rot) and corruption from other sources
++ checksums on ZFS replication streams, `zfs send` and `zfs receive`, ensure the
+data received is not corrupted by intervening storage or transport mechanisms
+
+#### Checksum Algorithms
+
+The checksum algorithms in ZFS can be changed for datasets (filesystems or 
+volumes). The checksum algorithm used for each block is stored in the block 
+pointer (metadata). The block checksum is calculated when the block is written,
+so changing the algorithm only affects writes occurring after the change.
+
+The checksum algorithm for a dataset can be changed by setting the `checksum`
+property:
+```bash
+zfs set checksum=sha256 pool_name/dataset_name
+```
+
+| Checksum | Ok for dedup and nopwrite? | Compatible with other ZFS implementations? | Notes
+|---|---|---|---
+| on | see notes | yes | `on` is a short hand for `fletcher4` for non-deduped datasets and `sha256` for deduped datasets
+| off | no | yes | Do not do use `off`
+| fletcher2 | no | yes | Deprecated implementation of Fletcher checksum, use `fletcher4` instead
+| fletcher4 | no | yes | Fletcher algorithm, also used for `zfs send` streams
+| sha256 | yes | yes | Default for deduped datasets
+| noparity | no | yes | Do not use `noparity`
+| sha512 | yes | requires pool feature `org.illumos:sha512` | salted `sha512` currently not supported for any filesystem on the boot pools
+| skein | yes | requires pool feature `org.illumos:skein` | salted `skein` currently not supported for any filesystem on the boot pools
+| edonr | yes | requires pool feature `org.illumos:edonr` | salted `edonr` currently not supported for any filesystem on the boot pools
+
+#### Checksum Accelerators
+ZFS has the ability to offload checksum operations to the Intel QuickAssist 
+Technology (QAT) adapters.
+
+#### Checksum Microbenchmarks
+Some ZFS features use microbenchmarks when the `zfs.ko` kernel module is loaded 
+to determine the optimal algorithm for checksums. The results of the microbenchmarks
+are observable in the `/proc/spl/kstat/zfs` directory. The winning algorithm is
+reported as the "fastest" and becomes the default. The default can be overridden
+by setting zfs module parameters.
+
+| Checksum | Results Filename | `zfs` module parameter
+|---|---|---
+| Fletcher4 | /proc/spl/kstat/zfs/fletcher_4_bench | zfs_fletcher_4_impl
+
+#### Disabling Checksums
+While it may be tempting to disable checksums to improve CPU performance, it is
+widely considered by the ZFS community to be an extrodinarily bad idea. Don't
+disable checksums.