Performing anti-virus checks for a distributed filesystem

A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing instructions that when executed by a computer cause the computer to perform a method for performing anti-virus checks for a distributed filesystem, the method comprising:

• collectively managing the data of the distributed filesystem using two or more cloud controllers, wherein collectively managing the data comprises:
• storing the data for the distributed filesystem in one or more cloud storage systems, wherein the cloud controllers cache and ensure data consistency for data stored in the cloud storage systems;
• and
• caching data for the distributed filesystem in each cloud controller;
• receiving at a cloud controller a write request from a client system that seeks to store a target file in the distributed filesystem;
• and
• performing an anti-virus scan of the target file.

A cloud controller that initiates anti-virus checks for a distributed filesystem, comprising:

• a processor;
• a storage mechanism that stores metadata for the distributed filesystem;
• and
• a storage management mechanism;
• wherein two or more cloud controllers collectively manage the data of the distributed filesystem;
• and
• wherein the cloud controller is configured to:
• receive an incremental metadata snapshot containing metadata for a new file that has been written to the distributed filesystem by another cloud controller for the distributed filesystem;
• use the incremental metadata snapshot to download the new file from the cloud storage system;
• transfer the target file to an anti-virus service to perform an anti-virus scan for the target file;
• receive the results for the anti-virus scan;
• and
• if no virus was found for the target file, send a subsequent incremental metadata snapshot that indicates that the target file is clean to the other cloud controllers for the distributed filesystem.