Network file system server proxy and protocol translation

1 . A method for managing a file system, the method comprising:

obtaining, by an enhanced file system redirector proxy (FSRP) node of a cluster and from a client, a request for a new file in a file system, wherein the cluster is a deduplication-aware cluster;

in response to the request:

performing a translation of the request to a cluster-readable format to obtain a cluster-readable request, wherein the request is in a first protocol, and wherein the cluster-readable request is in a second protocol;

determining a namespace access node of the cluster to service the cluster-readable request, wherein the determining comprises:

making a determination that the new file is not mapped to any namespace access nodes in the cluster;

analyzing, based on the determination, a plurality of namespace access nodes to determine resource availability of the namespace access nodes; and

selecting, based on the analyzing, a namespace access node from the plurality of namespace access nodes with a highest resource availability to obtain the namespace access node;

sending the cluster-readable request to the namespace access node;

servicing, by the namespace access node and a deduplication node of the cluster, the cluster-readable request,

wherein servicing the cluster-readable request comprises:

instructing, by the namespace access node, the deduplication node to store data corresponding to the file in a storage system,

performing a deduplication operation on the data to obtain deduplicated data; and

storing, by the deduplication node, the deduplicated data in the storage system;

obtaining, by the enhanced FSRP node, confirmation of servicing of the cluster-readable request from the namespace access node; and

providing, by the FSRP node, a file handle to the client based on the confirmation of the servicing.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the first request is in a network file system (NFS) protocol, and wherein the second protocol is a deduplication-aware protocol.

3 . The method of claim 2 , wherein the client manages a namespace in the NFS protocol, and wherein the cluster manages a namespace in a protocol different from the NFS protocol.

4 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

updating, based on the determining, a namespace node mapping to obtain an updated namespace node mapping.

5 . The method of claim 4 , further comprising:

after the providing:

obtaining, by the enhanced FSRP node and from the client, a write request for the file, wherein the write request specifies the file handle;

in response to the write request, identifying, using the updated namespace node mapping, the namespace access node;

sending a second cluster-readable request to the namespace access node, wherein the second cluster-readable request specifies writing to the data;

obtaining, from the namespace access node, a second confirmation of servicing of the second cluster-readable request; and

in response to the second confirmation, providing the second confirmation to the client.

6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein a first cluster server in the cluster comprises the enhanced FSRP node and a second cluster server in the cluster comprises the namespace access node.

7 . A system comprising:

a network file system (NFS) client; and

a cluster comprising:

a first cluster server comprising a namespace access node, wherein the cluster is a deduplication-aware cluster;

a second cluster server comprising a processor and an enhanced file system redirector proxy (FSRP) node operating on the processor,

wherein the enhanced file system is programmed to:

obtain a request for a new file in a file system;

in response to the request:

perform a translation of the request to a cluster-readable format to obtain a cluster-readable request, wherein the request is in a NFS protocol, and wherein the cluster-readable request is in a second protocol different from the NFS protocol;

determine the namespace access node to service the cluster-readable request, wherein the determining comprises:

 making a determination that the new file is not mapped to any namespace access nodes in the cluster;

 analyzing, based on the determination, a plurality of namespace access nodes to determine resource availability of the namespace access nodes; and

 selecting, based on the analyzing, a namespace access node from the plurality of namespace access nodes with a highest resource availability to obtain the namespace access node;

send the cluster-readable request to the namespace access node;

 obtain confirmation of servicing of the cluster-readable request from the namespace access node; and

 provide a file handle to the NFS client based on the confirmation of the servicing,

wherein the namespace access node is programmed to: instruct the deduplication node to store data corresponding to the file in a storage system,

wherein the deduplication node is programmed to;

perform, in response to the instructing, a deduplication operation on the data to obtain deduplicated data; and

store the deduplicated data in the storage system.

8 . The system of claim 7 , wherein the NFS client manages a namespace in the NFS protocol, and wherein the cluster manages a namespace in the second protocol.

9 . The system of claim 7 , wherein the enhanced FSRP node is further programmed to:

update, based on the determining, a namespace node mapping to obtain an updated namespace node mapping.

10 . The system of claim 9 , further comprising:

the storage system,

wherein the enhanced FSRP is further programmed to, after the providing:

obtain, from the NFS client, a write request for the file, wherein the write request specifies the file handle;

in response to the write request, identify, using the updated namespace node mapping, the namespace access node;

sending a second cluster-readable request to the namespace access node, wherein the second cluster-readable request specifies writing to the data in the storage system;

obtaining, from the namespace access node, a second confirmation of servicing of the second cluster-readable request; and

in response to the second confirmation, providing the second confirmation to the client.

11 . A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising computer readable program code, which when executed by a computer processor enables the computer processor to perform a method for managing a file system, the method comprising:

obtaining, by an enhanced file system redirector proxy (FSRP) node of a cluster and from a client, a request for a new file in a file system, wherein the cluster is a deduplication-aware cluster;

in response to the request:

performing a translation of the request to a cluster-readable format to obtain a cluster-readable request, wherein the request is in a first protocol, and wherein the cluster-readable request is in a second protocol;

determining a namespace access node of the cluster to service the cluster-readable request, wherein the determining comprises:

making a determination that the new file is not mapped to any namespace access nodes in the cluster;

analyzing, based on the determination, a plurality of namespace access nodes to determine resource availability of the namespace access nodes; and

selecting, based on the analyzing, a namespace access node from the plurality of namespace access nodes with a highest resource availability to obtain the namespace access node;

sending the cluster-readable request to the namespace access node;

servicing, by the namespace access node and a deduplication node of the cluster, the cluster-readable request,

wherein servicing the cluster-readable request comprises:

instructing, by the namespace access node, the deduplication node to store data corresponding to the file in a storage system;

performing a deduplication operation on the data to obtain deduplicated data; and

storing, by the deduplication node, the deduplicated data in the storage system;

obtaining confirmation of servicing of the cluster-readable request from the namespace access node; and

providing a file handle to the client based on the confirmation of the servicing.

12 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 11 , wherein the request is in a format readable in a network file system (NFS) protocol.

13 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 12 , wherein the client manages a namespace in the NFS protocol, and wherein the cluster manages a namespace in a protocol different from the NFS protocol.

14 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 11 , further comprising:

updating, based on the determining, a namespace node mapping to obtain an updated namespace node mapping.

15 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 14 , further comprising:

after the providing:

obtaining, by the enhanced FSRP node and from the client, a write request for the file, wherein the write request specifies the file handle;

in response to the write request, identifying, using the updated namespace node mapping, the namespace access node;

sending a second cluster-readable request to the namespace access node, wherein the second cluster-readable request specifies writing to the data;

obtaining, from the namespace access node, a second confirmation of servicing of the second cluster-readable request; and

in response to the second confirmation, providing the second confirmation to the client.