Methods and systems for seamlessly provisioning client application nodes in a distributed system

1. A method for provisioning a plurality of client application nodes in a distributed system using a management node, the method comprising:

creating a file system in a namespace;

associating the file system with a scale out volume (SOV), wherein:

the SOV is associated with storage devices,

the SOV provides a layer of abstraction between a sparse virtual space associated with the file system and the storage devices, and

the storage devices are scalable in size without impacting interaction between the sparse virtual space and the plurality of client application nodes;

mounting the file system on a metadata node in the distributed system, wherein mounting the file system comprises storing a scale out volume record of the SOV, wherein mounting the file system on the metadata node further comprises storing a set of mapped Redundant Array of Independent Disks (RAID) groups (MRGs) records corresponding to a set of MRGs;

storing file system information for the file system in a second file system on the management node,

wherein the file system information specifies the file system, the metadata node on which the file system is mounted, a first export rule, and a second export rule;

wherein the first export rule specifies that only at least a portion of a plurality of client application nodes is able to access the file system information;

wherein the second export rule specifies that only a portion of the file system information is accessible to at least a sub-portion of the portion of the plurality of client application nodes; and

wherein storing the file system information triggers distribution of the file system information to the at least a portion of the plurality of client application nodes based on the first export rule and the second export rule.

2. The method of claim 1 ,

wherein associating the file system with a scale out volume comprises generating the scale out volume record, wherein the scale out volume record specifies a size of the file system and the set of MRGs associated with the SOV.

3. The method of claim 2 , each MRG in the set of MRGs corresponds to a set of the storage devices, wherein data and metadata associated with the file system is stored across the set of the storage device.

4. The method of claim 2 , wherein a MRG record in the set of MRG records specifies at least a plurality of the storage devices that are members of the MRG, a type of media of the plurality of the storage devices, and a size of the MRG.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the type of media is persistent memory (PMEM).

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the namespace is maintained on a second metadata node in the distributed system, wherein namespace information for the namespace is stored in the second file system and specifies the second metadata node on which the namespace is maintained.

7. A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising instructions which, when executed by a processor, enables the processor to perform a method, the method comprising:

creating a file system in a namespace;

associating the file system with a scale out volume (SOV), wherein:

the SOV is associated with storage devices,

the SOV provides a layer of abstraction between a sparse virtual space associated with the file system and the storage devices, and

the storage devices are scalable in size without impacting interaction between the sparse virtual space and a plurality of client application nodes;

mounting the file system on a metadata node in a distributed system, wherein mounting the file system comprises storing a scale out volume record of the SOV, wherein mounting the file system on the metadata node further comprises storing a set of mapped Redundant Array of Independent Disks (RAID) groups (MRGs) records corresponding to a set of MRGs;

storing file system information for the file system in a second file system on a management node,

wherein the file system information specifies the file system, the metadata node on which the file system is mounted, a first export rule, and a second export rule;

wherein the first export rule specifies that only at least a portion of a plurality of client application nodes is able to access the file system information;

wherein the second export rule specifies that only a portion of the file system information is accessible to at least a sub-portion of the portion of the plurality of client application nodes; and

wherein storing the file system information triggers distribution of the file system information to the at least a portion of the plurality of client application nodes based on the first export rule and the second export rule.

8. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 7 ,

wherein associating the file system with a scale out volume comprises generating the scale out volume record, wherein the scale out volume record specifies a size of the file system and the set of MRGs associated with the SOV.

9. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 8 , wherein each MRG in the set of MRGs corresponds to a set of the storage devices, wherein data and metadata associated with the file system is stored across the set of the storage device.

10. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 8 , wherein a MRG record in the set of MRG records specifies at least a plurality of the storage devices that are members of the MRG, a type of media of the plurality of the storage devices, and a size of the MRG.

11. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 10 , wherein the type of media is persistent memory (PMEM).

12. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 7 , wherein the namespace is maintained on a second metadata node in the distributed system, wherein namespace information for the namespace is stored in the second file system and specifies the second metadata node on which the namespace is maintained.

13. A node, comprising:

memory comprising instructions;

a processor configured to execute the instructions, wherein when the instructions are executed the node performs a method, the method comprising:

creating a file system in a namespace;

associating the file system with a scale out volume (SOV), wherein:

the SOV is associated with storage devices,

the SOV provides a layer of abstraction between a sparse virtual space associated with the file system and the storage devices, and

the storage devices are scalable in size without impacting interaction between the sparse virtual space SOV and a plurality of client application nodes;

mounting the file system on a metadata node in a distributed system, wherein mounting the file system comprises storing a scale out volume record of the SOV, wherein mounting the file system on the metadata node further comprises storing a set of mapped Redundant Array of Independent Disks (RAID) groups (MRGs) records corresponding to a set of MRGs;

storing file system information for the file system in a second file system on the node,

wherein the file system information specifies the file system, the metadata node on which the file system is mounted, a first export rule, and a second export rule;

wherein the first export rule specifies that only at least a portion of plurality of client application nodes is able to access the file system information;

wherein the second export rule specifies that only a portion of the file system information is accessible to at least a sub-portion of the portion of the plurality of client application nodes; and

wherein storing the file system information triggers distribution of the file system information to the at least a portion of a plurality of client application nodes based on the first export rule and the second export rule.

14. The node of claim 13 ,

wherein associating the file system with a scale out volume comprises generating the scale out volume record, wherein the scale out volume record specifies a size of the file system and the set of MRGs associated with the SOV,

wherein a MRG record in the set of MRG records specifies at least a plurality of the storage devices that are members of the MRG, a type of media of the plurality of the storage devices, and a size of the MRG.