Virtual node deployments of cluster-based applications modified to exchange reference to file systems

A method for deploying cluster-based applications using virtual nodes, comprising:

• creating a plurality of virtual nodes that are each assigned a subset of processing cores of a plurality of processing cores, an Internet protocol (IP) address of a plurality of IP addresses, and an in-memory file system of a plurality of in-memory file systems configured to provide access to a physically shared memory divided into a plurality of non-overlapping portions, each portion associated with a respective in-memory file system configured to provide access to its respective portion of physically shared memory, each of the plurality of virtual nodes existing simultaneously in a single machine environment;
• deploying a distributed application configured for deploying to a plurality of machine nodes, the distributed application being modified from transmitting datasets between two or more of the plurality of machine nodes to instead transmitting references to datasets between virtual nodes;
• using a first virtual node of the plurality of virtual nodes to send a reference to a first dataset stored in a first portion of the physically shared memory allocated to the first virtual node to a second virtual node of the plurality of virtual nodes;
• using the second virtual node to access the first dataset through the in-memory file system of the first virtual node using the reference obtained from the first virtual node;
• and
• using the in-memory file system of the second virtual node to create a second dataset in a second portion of the physically shared memory allocated to the second virtual node, the second portion being separate from the first portion.

A non-transitory machine-readable storage medium encoded with instructions executable by a processor for deploying cluster-based applications using virtual nodes, the instructions to:

• create a plurality of virtual nodes that are each assigned a subset of processing cores of a plurality of processing cores, and one of a plurality of in-memory file systems providing access to a physically shared memory divided into a plurality of non-overlapping portions, each portion associated with a respective in-memory file system configured to provide access to its respective portion of physically shared memory, each of the plurality of virtual nodes existing simultaneously in a single machine environment;
• deploy a distributed application the distributed application being modified from transmitting datasets between two or more of the plurality of machine nodes to instead transmitting references to datasets between virtual nodes, wherein the instructions further causing the processor to:
• direct a first virtual node of the plurality of virtual nodes to send a reference to a first dataset stored in the physically shared memory to a second virtual node of the plurality of virtual nodes;
• direct the second virtual node to access the first dataset through the in-memory file system of the first virtual node using the reference;
• and
• use the in-memory file system of the second virtual node to create a second dataset in the portion, separate from the first portion, of the physically shared memory assigned to the second virtual node, the second portion being separate from the first portion.