System and method for efficient inode enumeration

1. An information handling system comprising:

a processor;

a memory coupled to the processor;

a network interface coupled to the processor and configured to interface to a network; and

one or more non-transitory computer-readable media communicatively coupled to the processor and having stored thereon:

a file system;

wherein the file system includes one or more files and one or more directories; and

an inode management module configured to:

locate a plurality of inode files associated with the file system;

identify one or more inodes within the plurality of inode files, each of the one or more inodes including a pointer to a first physical address representing a location of data of a file;

for each of the one or more inodes, determine a physical address range representing a location of the inode, the physical address range including a second physical address and an offset;

create a list including, for each of the one or more inodes, the physical address range representing the location of the inode;

sort the list based on the physical address range for each of the one or more inodes and not based on respective identifiers of the one or more inodes; and

during an operation in which the one or more inodes are traversed, traverse the one or more inodes in accordance with the sorted list.

2. An information handling system according to claim 1 , wherein the inode management module is further configured to, for each of the plurality of inode files, determine a list of inodes to enumerate.

3. An information handling system according to claim 1 , wherein the operation is an input-output operation.

4. A method for enumerating inodes, comprising:

locating a plurality of inode files associated with a file system;

identifying one or more inodes within the plurality of inode files, each of the one or more inodes including a pointer to a first physical address representing a location of data of a file;

for each of the one or more inodes, determining a physical address range representing a location of the inode, the physical address range including a second physical address and an offset;

creating a list including, for each of the one or more inodes, the physical address range representing the location of the inode;

sorting the list based on the physical address range for each of the one or more inodes and not based on respective identifiers of the one or more inodes; and

during an operation in which the one or more inodes are traversed, traversing the one or more inodes in accordance with the sorted list.

5. A method according to claim 4 , wherein the operation is an input-output operation.

6. A method according to claim 4 , further comprising, for each of the plurality of inode files, determining a list of inodes to enumerate.

7. An article of manufacture, comprising:

a non-transitory computer-readable medium;

computer-executable instructions carried on the non-transitory computer-readable medium, the instructions readable by an information handling system, the instructions, when executed, causing a processor to:

locate a plurality of inode files associated with a file system;

identify one or more inodes within the plurality of inode files, each of the one or more inodes including a pointer to a first physical address representing a location of data of a file;

for each of the one or more inodes, determine a physical address range representing a location of the inode, the physical address range including a second physical address and an offset;

create a list including, for each of the one or more inodes, the physical address range representing the location of the inode;

sort the list based on the physical address range for each of the one or more inodes and not based on respective identifiers of the one or more inodes; and

during an operation in which the one or more inodes are traversed, traverse the one or more inodes in accordance with the sorted list.

8. An article of manufacture according to claim 7 , wherein the operation is an input-output operation.

9. An article of manufacture according to claim 7 , the instructions, when executed, further causing a processor to, for each of the plurality of inode files, determine a list of inodes to enumerate.