DISTRIBUTED FILE STORAGE IN A CONTINUOUS COMPUTING FABRIC ENVIRONMENT

1 . A method of accessing files in a distributed computing network, the method comprising:

issuing, at an application executing on a first computing system, a file access request to access a file, the file access request issued to an input/output subsystem of the first computing system, the first computing system operating using a first operating system, the file access request identifying the file and a location within the file;

receiving, at an input/output processor of the first computing system, the file access request; and

routing the file access request from the input/output processor to a remote computing system for managing the file access request based on a determination by the input/output processor that the file is stored at a computing system remote from the first computing system.

2 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising managing, at the remote computing system, access to the file.

3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein routing the file access request from the input/output processor to a remote computing system for managing the file access request based on the location is based on the input/output processor determining, based on the location, that the file is not directly accessible by the input/output processor.

4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein routing the file access request from the input/output processor to a remote computing system comprises routing the file access request from the input/output processor to a remote input/output processor associated with the remote computing system.

5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein, based on the access to the file, the input/output processor returns a status to the application issuing the file access request, the status indicating whether an error occurred during access to the file and, if so, whether the error was corrected.

6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the file is accessible by the first computing system as if in local storage.

7 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the input/output processor determines a remote location of the file within the distributed computing network.

8 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the remote computing system comprises a fabric storage system.

9 . The method of claim 1 , wherein access to the file occurs, at the first computing system, via the local input/output subsystem.

10 . The method of claim 1 , wherein access to the file avoids use of TCP/IP communications protocols for access to the file.

11 . A distributed file access system comprising:

a computing system including a processing unit and a memory, the computing system executing an application and including an input/output subsystem including an input/output processor used to manage file access requests by the application; and

a remote storage system communicatively connected to the computing system via a computing fabric;

wherein the input/output processor is configured to determine a location of a file identified by the file access request and route the file access request to the remote storage system based on a determination that the file is stored at the remote storage system.

12 . The distributed file access system of claim 11 , wherein the computing system and the remote storage system reside within a multi-system computing fabric.

13 . The distributed file access system of claim 12 , wherein the file access request is transmitted from the first computing system to the remote storage system via an interconnect communication layer communicatively connecting the multi-system computing fabric.

14 . The distributed file access system of claim 11 , wherein the file access request includes a file name and a location within the file to be accessed.

15 . The distributed file access system of claim 11 , wherein the file access request received by the input/output processor lacks an identification of a computing system on which the file resides.

16 . The distributed file access system of claim 11 , wherein the computing system comprises a virtualized computing system.

17 . The distributed file access system of claim 11 , wherein the input/output processor is configured to, based on the access to the file, return a status to the application issuing the file access request, the status indicating whether an error occurred during access to the file and, if so, whether the error was corrected.

18 . The distributed file access system of claim 11 , further comprising a second computing system communicatively connected to the first computing system and the remote storage system, wherein the file is accessible to the second computing system via a second input/output processor associated with the second computing system.

19 . The distributed file access system of claim 11 , wherein access to the file by the application is managed using the input/output processor such that whether the file is local to the first computing system is obscured to the application.

20 . A computer-readable storage medium comprising computer-executable instructions which, when executed, causes the computing system to perform a method of accessing files in a distributed computing network, the method comprising:

issuing, at an application executing on a first computing system, a file access request to access a file, the file access request issued to an input/output subsystem of the first computing system, the first computing system operating using a first operating system, the file access request identifying the file and a location within the file;

receiving, at an input/output processor of the first computing system, the file access request; and

routing the file access request from the input/output processor to a remote computing system for managing the file access request based on a determination by the input/output processor that the file is stored at a computing system remote from the first computing system.

21 . The computer-readable storage medium of claim 20 , further comprising managing, at the remote computing system, access to the file.