Method, system and article of manufacture for system recovery

1. A distributed system configurable to communicate in a network, the distributed system comprising:

a plurality of computational devices coupled via the network;

a distributed operating system controlling the plurality of computation devices; and

a storage partition that stores the distributed operating system and a backup copy of the distributed operating system, wherein the distributed system performs:

receiving, by a boot loader, an indication to load the backup copy of the distributed operating system;

loading, by the boot loader, the backup copy of the distributed operating system; and

rebooting the computational device with the loaded backup copy of the distributed operating system, wherein a first indicator stores a location of the backup copy of the distributed operating system, and a second indicator stores a location from which the boot loader loads the distributed operating system, and wherein the loading of the backup copy of the distributed operating system further comprises:

copying, by the boot loader, the location of the backup copy of the distributed operating system from the first indicator to the second indicator;

reading, by the boot loader, the second indicator to determine a location from which to load programs to reboot the computational device; and

initiating, by the boot loader, a loading of the programs to reboot the computational device from the determined location.

2. A distributed system configurable to communicate in a network, the distributed system comprising:

a plurality of computational devices coupled via the network;

a distributed operating system controlling the plurality of computation devices; and

a storage partition that stores the distributed operating system and a backup copy of the distributed operating system, wherein the distributed system performs:

receiving, by a boot loader, an indication to load the backup copy of the distributed operating system;

loading, by the boot loader, the backup copy of the distributed operating system; and

rebooting the computational device with the loaded backup copy of the distributed operating system, wherein a file system filter protects the backup copy of the distributed operating system from alteration, wherein the file system filter stores in a first indicator a location of the backup copy of the distributed operating system, and wherein in response to the indication the boot loader uses the first indicator to populate a boot directory name field that is used to load the distributed operating system.

3. The distributed system of claim 2 , wherein a plurality of backup copies of the distributed operating system are stored in the storage partition, wherein the storage partition is a single storage partition, and wherein the boot loader loads one of the plurality of backup copies of the distributed operating system in response to a corruption of the distributed operating system.

4. The distributed system of claim 2 , wherein storage of the distributed operating system and the backup copy of the distributed operating system in the storage partition allows a substitution of the distributed operating system with the copy of the distributed operating system without a block by block copying of the distributed operating system by the boot loader.

5. A distributed system configurable to communicate in a network, the distributed system comprising:

a plurality of computational devices coupled via the network;

a distributed operating system controlling the plurality of computation devices; and

a storage partition that stores the distributed operating system and a backup copy of the distributed operating system, wherein the distributed system performs:

receiving, by a boot loader, an indication to load the backup copy of the distributed operating system;

loading, by the boot loader, the backup copy of the distributed operating system; and

rebooting the computational device with the loaded backup copy of the distributed operating system, wherein a first directory includes the distributed operating system and a second directory includes the backup copy of the distributed operating system, the distributed system further performs:

creating the backup copy of the distributed operating system, in response to a command from a user;

renaming the second directory to the first directory to use the backup copy of the distributed operating system to reboot the computational device; and

updating the backup copy of the distributed operating system, wherein the updated backup copy of the distributed operating system is used to reboot the computational device.

6. A computer readable storage medium, wherein code stored in the computer readable storage medium when executed causes operations in a distributed system configurable to communicate in a network, wherein a plurality of computational devices are coupled via the network, a distributed operating system controls the plurality of computation devices, and a storage partition stores the distributed operating system and a backup copy of the distributed operating system, the operations comprising:

receiving, by a boot loader, an indication to load the backup copy of the distributed operating system;

loading, by the boot loader, the backup copy of the distributed operating system; and

rebooting the computational device with the loaded backup copy of the distributed operating system, wherein a first indicator stores a location of the backup copy of the distributed operating system, and a second indicator stores a location from which the boot loader loads the distributed operating system, and wherein the loading of the backup copy of the distributed operating system further comprises:

copying, by the boot loader, the location of the backup copy of the distributed operating system from the first indicator to the second indicator;

reading, by the boot loader, the second indicator to determine a location from which to load programs to reboot the computational device; and

initiating, by the boot loader, a loading of the programs to reboot the computational device from the determined location.

7. A computer readable storage medium, wherein code stored in the computer readable storage medium when executed causes operations in a distributed system configurable to communicate in a network, wherein a plurality of computational devices are coupled via the network, a distributed operating system controls the plurality of computation devices, and a storage partition stores the distributed operating system and a backup copy of the distributed operating system, the operations comprising:

receiving, by a boot loader, an indication to load the backup copy of the distributed operating system;

loading, by the boot loader, the backup copy of the distributed operating system; and

rebooting the computational device with the loaded backup copy of the distributed operating system, wherein a file system filter protects the backup copy of the distributed operating system from alteration, wherein the file system filter stores in a first indicator a location of the backup copy of the distributed operating system, and wherein in response to the indication the boot loader uses the first indicator to populate a boot directory name field that is used to load the distributed operating system.

8. The computer readable storage medium of claim 7 , wherein a plurality of backup copies of the distributed operating system are stored in the storage partition, wherein the storage partition is a single storage partition, and wherein the boot loader loads one of the plurality of backup copies of the distributed operating system in response to a corruption of the distributed operating system.

9. The computer readable storage medium of claim 7 , wherein storage of the distributed operating system and the backup copy of the distributed operating system in the storage partition allows a substitution of the distributed operating system with the copy of the distributed operating system without a block by block copying of the distributed operating system by the boot loader.

10. A computer readable storage medium, wherein code stored in the computer readable storage medium when executed causes operations in a distributed system configurable to communicate in a network, wherein a plurality of computational devices are coupled via the network, a distributed operating system controls the plurality of computation devices, and a storage partition stores the distributed operating system and a backup copy of the distributed operating system, the operations comprising:

receiving, by a boot loader, an indication to load the backup copy of the distributed operating system;

loading, by the boot loader, the backup copy of the distributed operating system; and

rebooting the computational device with the loaded backup copy of the distributed operating system, wherein a first directory includes the distributed operating system and a second directory includes the backup copy of the distributed operating system, the operations further comprising:

creating the backup copy of the distributed operating system, in response to a command from a user;

renaming the second directory to the first directory to use the backup copy of the distributed operating system to reboot the computational device; and

updating the backup copy of the distributed operating system, wherein the updated backup copy of the distributed operating system is used to reboot the computational device.

11. A method implemented in a distributed system configurable to communicate in a network, the method comprising:

maintaining a plurality of computational devices coupled via the network, wherein a distributed operating system controls the plurality of computation devices, and a storage partition stores the distributed operating system and a backup copy of the distributed operating system;

receiving, by a boot loader, an indication to load the backup copy of the distributed operating system;

loading, by the boot loader, the backup copy of the distributed operating system; and

rebooting the computational device with the loaded backup copy of the distributed operating system, wherein a first indicator stores a location of the backup copy of the distributed operating system, and a second indicator stores a location from which the boot loader loads the distributed operating system, and wherein the loading of the backup copy of the distributed operating system further comprises:

copying, by the boot loader, the location of the backup copy of the distributed operating system from the first indicator to the second indicator;

reading, by the boot loader, the second indicator to determine a location from which to load programs to reboot the computational device; and

initiating, by the boot loader, a loading of the programs to reboot the computational device from the determined location.

12. A method implemented in a distributed system configurable to communicate in a network, the method comprising:

maintaining a plurality of computational devices coupled via the network, wherein a distributed operating system controls the plurality of computation devices, and a storage partition stores the distributed operating system and a backup copy of the distributed operating system;

receiving, by a boot loader, an indication to load the backup copy of the distributed operating system;

loading, by the boot loader, the backup copy of the distributed operating system; and

rebooting the computational device with the loaded backup copy of the distributed operating system, wherein a file system filter protects the backup copy of the distributed operating system from alteration, wherein the file system filter stores in a first indicator a location of the backup copy of the distributed operating system, and wherein in response to the indication the boot loader uses the first indicator to populate a boot directory name field that is used to load the distributed operating system.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein a plurality of backup copies of the distributed operating system are stored in the storage partition, wherein the storage partition is a single storage partition, and wherein the boot loader loads one of the plurality of backup copies of the distributed operating system in response to a corruption of the distributed operating system.

14. The method of claim 12 , wherein storage of the distributed operating system and the backup copy of the distributed operating system in the storage partition allows a substitution of the distributed operating system with the copy of the distributed operating system without a block by block copying of the distributed operating system by the boot loader.

15. A method implemented in a distributed system configurable to communicate in a network, the method comprising:

maintaining a plurality of computational devices coupled via the network, wherein a distributed operating system controls the plurality of computation devices, and a storage partition stores the distributed operating system and a backup copy of the distributed operating system;

receiving, by a boot loader, an indication to load the backup copy of the distributed operating system;

loading, by the boot loader, the backup copy of the distributed operating system; and

rebooting the computational device with the loaded backup copy of the distributed operating system, wherein a first directory includes the distributed operating system and a second directory includes the backup copy of the distributed operating system, the method further comprising:

creating the backup copy of the distributed operating system, in response to a command from a user;

renaming the second directory to the first directory to use the backup copy of the distributed operating system to reboot the computational device; and

updating the backup copy of the distributed operating system, wherein the updated backup copy of the distributed operating system is used to reboot the computational device.