Simplifying Distributed File Systems Using a Shared Logical Disk

We present a new approach to building noncentralized (\serverless") distributed le systems, using the shared logical disk, which provides the abstraction of a fault-tolerant, entry-consistent, shared array of persistent data blocks. By separating the storage management level from higher-level le system functions like metadata management, we signi cantly reduce the overall complexity of the le system's implementation. We describe the implementation of a le system and an underlying shared logical disk, designed to run on workstation networks and on the SHRIMP multicomputer. The le system level is very similar to a conventional uniprocessor le system, relying on the underlying shared logical disk to handle all communication, caching, and coherence operations. The shared logical disk provides some simple hooks to allow the le system to express its faulttolerance requirements. We believe the resulting design is much simpler than other non-centralized distributed le systems.

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