λFS: A Scalable and Elastic Distributed File System Metadata Service using Serverless Functions
Benjamin Carver, Runzhou Han, Jingyuan Zhang, Mai Zheng, Yue Cheng · 2023
The metadata service (MDS) sits on the critical path for distributed file system (DFS) operations, and therefore it is key to the overall performance of a large-scale DFS. Common "serverful" MDS architectures, such as a single server or cluster of servers, have a significant shortcoming: either they are not scalable, or they make it difficult to achieve an optimal balance of performance, resource utilization, and cost. A modern MDS requires a novel architecture that addresses this shortcoming.