Documentation/filesystems/ceph.txt - linux - Git at Google

 Ceph Distributed File System
 ============================

 Ceph is a distributed network file system designed to provide good
 performance, reliability, and scalability.

 Basic features include:

  * POSIX semantics
  * Seamless scaling from 1 to many thousands of nodes
  * High availability and reliability.  No single point of failure.
  * N-way replication of data across storage nodes
  * Fast recovery from node failures
  * Automatic rebalancing of data on node addition/removal
  * Easy deployment: most FS components are userspace daemons

 Also,
  * Flexible snapshots (on any directory)
  * Recursive accounting (nested files, directories, bytes)

 In contrast to cluster filesystems like GFS, OCFS2, and GPFS that rely
 on symmetric access by all clients to shared block devices, Ceph
 separates data and metadata management into independent server
 clusters, similar to Lustre.  Unlike Lustre, however, metadata and
 storage nodes run entirely as user space daemons.  Storage nodes
 utilize btrfs to store data objects, leveraging its advanced features
 (checksumming, metadata replication, etc.).  File data is striped
 across storage nodes in large chunks to distribute workload and
 facilitate high throughputs.  When storage nodes fail, data is
 re-replicated in a distributed fashion by the storage nodes themselves
 (with some minimal coordination from a cluster monitor), making the
 system extremely efficient and scalable.

 Metadata servers effectively form a large, consistent, distributed
 in-memory cache above the file namespace that is extremely scalable,
 dynamically redistributes metadata in response to workload changes,
 and can tolerate arbitrary (well, non-Byzantine) node failures.  The
 metadata server takes a somewhat unconventional approach to metadata
 storage to significantly improve performance for common workloads.  In
 particular, inodes with only a single link are embedded in
 directories, allowing entire directories of dentries and inodes to be
 loaded into its cache with a single I/O operation.  The contents of
 extremely large directories can be fragmented and managed by
 independent metadata servers, allowing scalable concurrent access.

 The system offers automatic data rebalancing/migration when scaling
 from a small cluster of just a few nodes to many hundreds, without
 requiring an administrator carve the data set into static volumes or
 go through the tedious process of migrating data between servers.
 When the file system approaches full, new nodes can be easily added
 and things will "just work."

 Ceph includes flexible snapshot mechanism that allows a user to create
 a snapshot on any subdirectory (and its nested contents) in the
 system.  Snapshot creation and deletion are as simple as 'mkdir
 .snap/foo' and 'rmdir .snap/foo'.

 Ceph also provides some recursive accounting on directories for nested
 files and bytes.  That is, a 'getfattr -d foo' on any directory in the
 system will reveal the total number of nested regular files and
 subdirectories, and a summation of all nested file sizes.  This makes
 the identification of large disk space consumers relatively quick, as
 no 'du' or similar recursive scan of the file system is required.


 Mount Syntax
 ============

 The basic mount syntax is:

  # mount -t ceph monip[:port][,monip2[:port]...]:/[subdir] mnt

 You only need to specify a single monitor, as the client will get the
 full list when it connects.  (However, if the monitor you specify
 happens to be down, the mount won't succeed.)  The port can be left
 off if the monitor is using the default.  So if the monitor is at
 1.2.3.4,

  # mount -t ceph 1.2.3.4:/ /mnt/ceph

 is sufficient.  If /sbin/mount.ceph is installed, a hostname can be
 used instead of an IP address.


 Mount Options
 =============

   ip=A.B.C.D[:N]
 	Specify the IP and/or port the client should bind to locally.
 	There is normally not much reason to do this.  If the IP is not
 	specified, the client's IP address is determined by looking at the
 	address its connection to the monitor originates from.

   wsize=X
 	Specify the maximum write size in bytes.  By default there is no
 	maximum.  Ceph will normally size writes based on the file stripe
 	size.

   rsize=X
 	Specify the maximum readahead.

   mount_timeout=X
 	Specify the timeout value for mount (in seconds), in the case
 	of a non-responsive Ceph file system.  The default is 30
 	seconds.

   rbytes
 	When stat() is called on a directory, set st_size to 'rbytes',
 	the summation of file sizes over all files nested beneath that
 	directory.  This is the default.

   norbytes
 	When stat() is called on a directory, set st_size to the
 	number of entries in that directory.

   nocrc
 	Disable CRC32C calculation for data writes.  If set, the storage node
 	must rely on TCP's error correction to detect data corruption
 	in the data payload.

   dcache
         Use the dcache contents to perform negative lookups and
         readdir when the client has the entire directory contents in
         its cache.  (This does not change correctness; the client uses
         cached metadata only when a lease or capability ensures it is
         valid.)

   nodcache
         Do not use the dcache as above.  This avoids a significant amount of
         complex code, sacrificing performance without affecting correctness,
         and is useful for tracking down bugs.

   noasyncreaddir
 	Do not use the dcache as above for readdir.

 More Information
 ================

 For more information on Ceph, see the home page at
 	http://ceph.newdream.net/

 The Linux kernel client source tree is available at
 	git://ceph.newdream.net/git/ceph-client.git
 	git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/sage/ceph-client.git

 and the source for the full system is at
 	git://ceph.newdream.net/git/ceph.git
	Ceph Distributed File System
	============================

	Ceph is a distributed network file system designed to provide good
	performance, reliability, and scalability.

	Basic features include:

	* POSIX semantics
	* Seamless scaling from 1 to many thousands of nodes
	* High availability and reliability. No single point of failure.
	* N-way replication of data across storage nodes
	* Fast recovery from node failures
	* Automatic rebalancing of data on node addition/removal
	* Easy deployment: most FS components are userspace daemons

	Also,
	* Flexible snapshots (on any directory)
	* Recursive accounting (nested files, directories, bytes)

	In contrast to cluster filesystems like GFS, OCFS2, and GPFS that rely
	on symmetric access by all clients to shared block devices, Ceph
	separates data and metadata management into independent server
	clusters, similar to Lustre. Unlike Lustre, however, metadata and
	storage nodes run entirely as user space daemons. Storage nodes
	utilize btrfs to store data objects, leveraging its advanced features
	(checksumming, metadata replication, etc.). File data is striped
	across storage nodes in large chunks to distribute workload and
	facilitate high throughputs. When storage nodes fail, data is
	re-replicated in a distributed fashion by the storage nodes themselves
	(with some minimal coordination from a cluster monitor), making the
	system extremely efficient and scalable.

	Metadata servers effectively form a large, consistent, distributed
	in-memory cache above the file namespace that is extremely scalable,
	dynamically redistributes metadata in response to workload changes,
	and can tolerate arbitrary (well, non-Byzantine) node failures. The
	metadata server takes a somewhat unconventional approach to metadata
	storage to significantly improve performance for common workloads. In
	particular, inodes with only a single link are embedded in
	directories, allowing entire directories of dentries and inodes to be
	loaded into its cache with a single I/O operation. The contents of
	extremely large directories can be fragmented and managed by
	independent metadata servers, allowing scalable concurrent access.

	The system offers automatic data rebalancing/migration when scaling
	from a small cluster of just a few nodes to many hundreds, without
	requiring an administrator carve the data set into static volumes or
	go through the tedious process of migrating data between servers.
	When the file system approaches full, new nodes can be easily added
	and things will "just work."

	Ceph includes flexible snapshot mechanism that allows a user to create
	a snapshot on any subdirectory (and its nested contents) in the
	system. Snapshot creation and deletion are as simple as 'mkdir
	.snap/foo' and 'rmdir .snap/foo'.

	Ceph also provides some recursive accounting on directories for nested
	files and bytes. That is, a 'getfattr -d foo' on any directory in the
	system will reveal the total number of nested regular files and
	subdirectories, and a summation of all nested file sizes. This makes
	the identification of large disk space consumers relatively quick, as
	no 'du' or similar recursive scan of the file system is required.


	Mount Syntax
	============

	The basic mount syntax is:

	# mount -t ceph monip[:port][,monip2[:port]...]:/[subdir] mnt

	You only need to specify a single monitor, as the client will get the
	full list when it connects. (However, if the monitor you specify
	happens to be down, the mount won't succeed.) The port can be left
	off if the monitor is using the default. So if the monitor is at
	1.2.3.4,

	# mount -t ceph 1.2.3.4:/ /mnt/ceph

	is sufficient. If /sbin/mount.ceph is installed, a hostname can be
	used instead of an IP address.



	Mount Options
	=============

	ip=A.B.C.D[:N]
	Specify the IP and/or port the client should bind to locally.
	There is normally not much reason to do this. If the IP is not
	specified, the client's IP address is determined by looking at the
	address its connection to the monitor originates from.

	wsize=X
	Specify the maximum write size in bytes. By default there is no
	maximum. Ceph will normally size writes based on the file stripe
	size.

	rsize=X
	Specify the maximum readahead.

	mount_timeout=X
	Specify the timeout value for mount (in seconds), in the case
	of a non-responsive Ceph file system. The default is 30
	seconds.

	rbytes
	When stat() is called on a directory, set st_size to 'rbytes',
	the summation of file sizes over all files nested beneath that
	directory. This is the default.

	norbytes
	When stat() is called on a directory, set st_size to the
	number of entries in that directory.

	nocrc
	Disable CRC32C calculation for data writes. If set, the storage node
	must rely on TCP's error correction to detect data corruption
	in the data payload.

	dcache
	Use the dcache contents to perform negative lookups and
	readdir when the client has the entire directory contents in
	its cache. (This does not change correctness; the client uses
	cached metadata only when a lease or capability ensures it is
	valid.)

	nodcache
	Do not use the dcache as above. This avoids a significant amount of
	complex code, sacrificing performance without affecting correctness,
	and is useful for tracking down bugs.

	noasyncreaddir
	Do not use the dcache as above for readdir.

	More Information
	================

	For more information on Ceph, see the home page at
	http://ceph.newdream.net/

	The Linux kernel client source tree is available at
	git://ceph.newdream.net/git/ceph-client.git
	git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/sage/ceph-client.git

	and the source for the full system is at
	git://ceph.newdream.net/git/ceph.git