Shadow directory structure in a distributed segmented file system
First Claim
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1. A file server comprising:
- a memory interface configured to communicate with a memory storing at least one segment of a distributed, segmented single file system implemented by an association of devices including a plurality of file servers that control metadata of separate segments of the file system; and
a processor coupled to the memory interface and configured to;
identify a file residing on a first segment in the distributed file system and directly pointed to by a first remote ancestor directory that resides on a second segment separate from the first segment; and
store a first shadow tree entry in a selected segment other than the second segment, the selected segment being controlled by one of the plurality of servers, and the first shadow tree entry providing a pointer to the identified file and being disposed in a shadow tree;
wherein the first shadow tree entry provides an alternative to the first remote ancestor directory to access the identified file in the distributed file system.
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Abstract
Techniques are provided for producing a shadow directory structure for files or directories owned by servers whose parent directories are owned by different servers in a single distributed file system. For each file or directory whose parent directory resides on a remote server, the server owning the file or directory produces a shadow directory structure. The shadow structure may be used in a variety of ways, e.g., to access an orphan when the server owning the orphan'"'"'s parent directory is offline (e.g., down, failed, or otherwise inaccessible), or to perform a partial file system consistency check (a partial fsck) to verify consistency of segments of the file system.
79 Citations
28 Claims
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1. A file server comprising:
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a memory interface configured to communicate with a memory storing at least one segment of a distributed, segmented single file system implemented by an association of devices including a plurality of file servers that control metadata of separate segments of the file system; and a processor coupled to the memory interface and configured to; identify a file residing on a first segment in the distributed file system and directly pointed to by a first remote ancestor directory that resides on a second segment separate from the first segment; and store a first shadow tree entry in a selected segment other than the second segment, the selected segment being controlled by one of the plurality of servers, and the first shadow tree entry providing a pointer to the identified file and being disposed in a shadow tree; wherein the first shadow tree entry provides an alternative to the first remote ancestor directory to access the identified file in the distributed file system. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 27)
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14. A computer program product residing on a memory comprising computer-readable instructions for causing a computer to:
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identify a file residing on a first segment in a distributed, segmented single file system implemented by an association of devices including a plurality of file servers that control metadata of separate segments of the file system, the identified file being directly pointed to by a first remote ancestor directory that resides on a second segment separate from the first segment; and store a first shadow tree entry in a selected segment other than the second segment, the selected segment being controlled by one of the plurality of servers, the first shadow tree entry providing a pointer to the identified file and being disposed in a shadow tree; wherein the first shadow tree entry provides an alternative to the first remote ancestor directory to access the identified file in the distributed file system. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 28)
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Specification