US 11,755,541 B2
Distributed file system and method for accessing a file in such a system
Jean-Olivier Gerphagnon, Vif (FR); Jean-Pascal Mazzilli, Champagnier (FR); and Matthieu Perotin, Gières (FR)
Assigned to BULL SAS, Les Clayes-sous-Bois (FR)
Filed by BULL SAS, Les Clayes-sous-Bois (FR)
Filed on Jun. 10, 2021, as Appl. No. 17/344,874.
Claims priority of application No. 20305626 (EP), filed on Jun. 10, 2020.
Prior Publication US 2021/0390082 A1, Dec. 16, 2021
Int. Cl. G06F 16/00 (2019.01); G06F 16/176 (2019.01); G06F 16/13 (2019.01); G06F 16/182 (2019.01); G06F 16/17 (2019.01); G06F 16/11 (2019.01); G06F 16/185 (2019.01); G06F 16/18 (2019.01)
CPC G06F 16/1767 (2019.01) [G06F 16/11 (2019.01); G06F 16/116 (2019.01); G06F 16/122 (2019.01); G06F 16/13 (2019.01); G06F 16/1734 (2019.01); G06F 16/182 (2019.01); G06F 16/185 (2019.01); G06F 16/1873 (2019.01)] 12 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A method for a plurality of clients to access a part of a file comprising at least one part of the file in a distributed file system comprising a plurality of servers, the part of the file being stored on a server of the plurality of servers and replicated on at least one other server of the plurality of servers, the method comprising:
receiving, by an access management device of said distributed file system, a request to access the
part of the file sent by a first client of the plurality of clients, wherein the access management device comprises a metadata server comprising instructions configured to manage access to the part of the file, wherein the access management device is connected to each client of the plurality of clients and each server of the plurality of servers via a network, and wherein the request to access the part of the file sent by the first client comprises an identifier for the first client to authenticate the first client with the access management device,
selecting, by the access management device, of a first server from among the server comprising the part of the file and the at least one other server comprising at least one replica of the part of the file, based on at least one parameter, wherein said at least one parameter is associated with at least one rule that allows a selection from the server of the plurality of servers of the distributed file system,
wherein the selecting of the first server comprises comparing a value of the at least one parameter to a rule of the at least one rule to determine whether said first server is to be selected,
authorizing, by the access management device, the first client to access the part of the file or the at
least one replica of the part of the file stored by the first server selected for the first client to access the part of the file, receiving, by the access management device, another request to access a same part of the part of the file sent by a second client of the plurality of clients, following authorization for the first client to access the part of the file or the at least one replica of the part of the file stored by the first server, wherein the second client is different from the first client, wherein the another request to access the same part of the part of the file sent by the second client comprises an identifier of the second client to authenticate the second client with the access management device,
selecting, by the access management device, of a second server from among the server comprising the part of the file and the at least one other server comprising the at least one replica of the part of the file, based on the at least one parameter used when selecting the first server, the second server being different from the first server,
authorizing, by the access management device, the second client to access the part of the file or the at least one replica of the part of the file stored by the second server selected for the second client to access the part of the file; wherein said second server is different from said first server such that a load is distributed across said first server and said second server when said first client and said second client simultaneously request access to the part of the file, to allow said first client and said second client to access the part of the file simultaneously via said first server and said second server and to improve access performance of the distributed file system since said first client and said second client of the plurality of clients are directed towards different servers of the plurality of servers when simultaneously requesting access to the part of the file, wherein the access management device distributes client access of the plurality of clients across said plurality of servers that are different, such that several servers of the plurality of servers are responsible for serving the part of the file and a single server of the plurality of servers is not solely responsible for serving the part of the file for the plurality of clients, wherein said at least one parameter allows flexibility in said selecting said first server and said second server that will serve the part of the file for said first client and said second client respectively, as the at least one parameter is configured to be modified by a network administrator via said access management device based on characteristics of the network comprising said plurality of clients and said plurality of servers, wherein said first server is selected for said first client and when said second server is selected for said second client, a connection is established between the first server and the
first client and another connection is established between the second server and the second client such that the part of the file is sent directly by the first server that is selected to the first client without going via the access management device, the part of the file is sent directly by the second server that is selected to the second client without going via the access management device.