Everything you need to know about Distributed File System (DFS)

A Distributed File System (DFS) is a file system distributed on multiple file servers or locations. With this system, a user is allowed to access, use or store isolated files with the locally available ones. In short, storing files will enable programmers to retrieve files from any computer or network.

Defining the distributed file system

Distributed File System allows users to share data and resources via a Common File System. DFS manages files and folders on computers and provides file storage and access control over local and wide area networks.

DFS is called a client-server architecture-based application allowing the users or clients to access data the same way it is stored on their computer. DFS helps to improvise data availability by location transparency and redundancy. It is also helpful in preventing data access failure by using a data replication strategy on multiple servers.

What are the features of DFS?

Distributed File System provides numerous features for the users to share data and resources via a Common File System. Let's read about some of them.

Transparency

A distributed file system should have structure transparency for ease of performance, adaptability, and dependability. With this system in place, users are empowered to get access to locally stored files as well as the remote files.

The name of the file should not reflect its location in any instance. Also, the system should not change the name during the transfer from one node to another. If the user plans to copy a file on multiple nodes, the system should hide copies and locations from one node to another.

Performance

A distributed file system should perform similarly to a centralized file system to gain mass user adoption. Also, the UI must be simple, and the commands must be minimal.

High Availability

A distributed file system should function in the event of a node failure, link failure, or a storage device crash.

Scalability

As users add the data periodically, the distributed system will grow over time when more machines are added, or two networks are linked together. Hence, a distributed file system needs to scale rapidly as the number of nodes and users increases.

High reliability

It is crucial to minimize data loss in a DFS to maintain the system's reliability. It is helpful for users if backup of important files are created in the file system so that no data is lost when the originals are lost. As a prevalent method, it is common for the file systems to have in place a steady storage facility on which users can rely heavily upon for their strategic files.

Data integrity

Since users often share a file multiple times, it is essential to maintain the data integrity of the saved file. Hence, concurrent access requests should be synchronized using a concurrency control method.

Security

Since a distributed file system stores the data of its users, the system needs to be secure to gain users' trust. Hence, DFS implements the security mechanisms so as to ensure that the data is not tampered with by any undesired and unauthorized entity through unwarranted access.

Heterogeneity

A distributed file system stores a massive amount of data, making heterogeneity in distributed systems unavoidable. Hence, users can choose multiple computer platforms for different purposes.

What are the use cases of DFS?

The distributed file system has many use cases in the real world.

Network File System (NFS)

The architecture of NFS involves a deeper relationship between the client-server that lets the users access, store, see, and also add or delete any information in their files. Network File System is one of the several distributed file system standards for Network-Attached Storage (NAS).

Common Internet File System (CIFS)

Microsoft designed the Common Internet File System, an application of the SIMB protocol. Server Message Block (SMB) is the common default SNB server interface for Microsoft applications.

Server Message Block (SMB)

Server Message Block (SMB) is a method for transmitting a file that allows computers to read and write data remotely.

Hadoop

Hadoop uses the map-reduce programming framework to implement an algorithm for distributing big data storage and running big data programs. It contains storage (Hadoop Distributed File System) and an operating part (MapReduce programming model).

What are the pros and cons of a distributed file system?

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