Serverless network file systems

Abstract

In this paper, we propose a new paradigm for network file system design, serverless network ,file systems. While traditional netwc~rk file systems rely on a central server machine, a serverless system utilizes workstations cooperating as peers to provide all file system services. Any machine in the system can store, cache, or control any block of' data. Our approach uses this location illdepelldeIICe, in combination with fast local area networks, to proviclc better performance and scalability than traditional file systems. Further, because any machine in the system can assume the responsibilities of a failed component, our serverless clesign also provides high availability via redundant data storage. To demonstrate our approach, we have implemented a prototype serverless network file system called xFS. Preliminary performance measurements suggest that our architecture achieves its goal of scalability. For instance, in a 32-node xI% system with 32 active clients, each client receives nearly as much read or write throughput as it would see if it were the only active client.