US 2003/0158836 A1Published application

Cluster meta file system of file system cells managed by respective data movers of a network file server

AssigneeEMC Corporation

InventorsDinesh Venkatesh, Uday K. Gupta

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Abstract

File system cells are linked together to form a meta file system that appears to a user or application program to be a single file system. The meta file system permits concurrent access by multiple processors in a file server wherein each file system cell is managed by a respective one of the processors. The file server responds to a directory access request by returning a file handle containing a file system cell ID and a pointer to a file in the file system cell. The file server responds to a subsequent file access request including the file handle by extracting the file system cell ID and the pointer to the file, searching a routing table for an entry having a file system cell ID matching the file system cell ID extracted from the file handle, and routing the request to the processor managing the file system cell.

Claims32

Dependent claims

In a data network, a method of accessing an object in a meta file system stored in a network file server, the meta file system including a plurality of file system cells, the method comprising:

a network client sending a directory lookup request for the object to the network file server;
the network file server receiving the directory lookup request, and in response, performing a directory lookup for the object, and returning to the network client a file handle for the object, the file handle including an identifier of a file system cell including the object, and a pointer to the object in the file system cell;
the network client receiving the file handle for the object, sending to the network file server a request for access to the object, the request for access to the object including the file handle for the object;
and
the network file server receiving the request for access to the object, and in response, the network file server extracting the file system cell identifier and the object pointer from the file handle included in the request for access, using the file system cell identifier to find the file system cell that includes the object, and using the object pointer to find the object in the file system cell.

2 more elements

A method of accessing an object in a meta file system stored in a network file server, the network file server including a cached disk array and a plurality of data mover computers for moving data between the cached disk array and a data network, the meta file system including a plurality of file system cells, each of the file system cells having a respective one of the data mover computers assigned exclusive management of metadata of said each of the file system cells, said method comprising:

storing a routing table in each of the plurality of data mover computers, each of the plurality of routing tables including an entry for each file system cell, each entry including a respective file system cell identifier and associating the respective file system cell identifier with a pointer to the respective one of the data mover computers assigned exclusive management of metadata of the file system cell identified by said respective file system cell identifier;
in response to the network file server receiving a request from the network for a file handle for a file, the network file server producing a file handle for the file, the file handle containing a file identifier obtained from the file system cell and a file system identifier for the file system cell containing the file;
and
at least one of the data mover computers receiving a subsequent request from the network for access to the file, the request for access to the file including the file handle, said at least one of the data movers responding to the request for access to the file by accessing the routing table to obtain the pointer to the respective one of the data movers assigned exclusive management of metadata of the file system cell containing the file in order to obtain management of metadata of the file system cell containing the file in order to access to the file.

1 more element

A network file server comprising data storage for storing a meta file system, the meta file system including a plurality of file system cells, and the network file server having at least one network port coupled to the data storage for providing network clients with access to the meta file system in the data storage, wherein the network file server is programmed for:

receiving, from a network client, a directory lookup request for an object in the meta file system, and in response, performing a directory lookup for the object, and returning to the network client a file handle for the object, the file handle including an identifier of a file system cell including the object, and a pointer to the object in the file system cell;
and
receiving, from the network client, a request for access to the object, the request for access to the object including the file handle for the object, and in response to receipt of the request for access to the object, extracting the file system cell identifier and the object pointer from the file handle included in the request for access, using the file system cell identifier to find the file system cell that includes the object, and using the object pointer to find the object in the file system cell.

A network file server including a cached disk array and a plurality of data mover computers for moving data between a data network and a meta file system stored in the cached disk array, the meta file system including a plurality of file system cells, each of the file system cells having a respective one of the data mover computers assigned exclusive management of metadata of said each of the file system cells;

said network file server being programmed for storing a routing table in each of the data mover computers, the routing table in each of the data mover computers including an entry for each file system cell, each entry including a respective file system cell identifier and associating the respective file system cell identifier with a pointer to the respective one of the data mover computers assigned exclusive management of metadata of the file system cell identified by said respective file system cell identifier;
said network file server being programmed for responding to receipt of a request from the network for a file handle for a file by producing a file handle for the file, the file handle containing a file identifier obtained from the file system cell and a file system identifier for the file system cell containing the file;
and
at least one of the data mover computers being programmed for receiving a subsequent request from the network for access to the file, the request for access to the file including the file handle, said at least one of the data movers being further programmed for responding to the request for access to the file by accessing the routing table in said at least one of the data mover computers to obtain the pointer to the respective one of the data movers assigned exclusive management of metadata of the file system cell containing the file in order to obtain management of metadata of the file system cell containing the file in order to access to the file.

1 more element

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.