Parallel File System Orchestration via Container Segmentation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current parallel file systems lack logical separation for multiple customers, leading to security concerns and high resource competition, and often require excessive storage capacity and specialized knowledge for high availability.
Innovation Solution
An orchestration engine automates the configuration and management of parallel file systems using a set of parameters, running on a distributed server node system to create and modify file systems within containers, providing efficient and highly available solutions with reduced resource needs and simplified user input.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If multiple customers share the same parallel file system, then resource utilization improves, but security and logical separation deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements multi-tenancy by segmenting the parallel file system into isolated tenant environments using containerization technology. Each customer's data and file system operations are confined to separate containers, providing logical separation and security while allowing multiple tenants to share the same underlying storage infrastructure. This resolves the contradiction by enabling resource sharing without compromising security boundaries.
2Reliability
If currently available parallel file systems are used for high availability, then redundancy is provided, but storage capacity requirements and complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements automated self-healing and failover mechanisms that operate without requiring specialized user knowledge. The system automatically detects failures, redistributes data across remaining healthy nodes, and maintains service availability through container orchestration. This self-service approach provides high availability while eliminating the need for users to have specialized storage architecture knowledge or manage complex redundancy configurations.
3Adaptability or versatility
If manual configuration of parallel file systems is performed, then customization is possible, but setup time and operational complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs pre-configured container templates and automated provisioning scripts that prepare file system configurations in advance. When a new tenant is onboarding, the system automatically instantiates pre-defined container configurations, mounts appropriate storage volumes, and configures access permissions without requiring manual intervention. This preliminary preparation enables rapid deployment while maintaining the ability to customize configurations through parameterized templates.
Data Source
AI summary
A method, a computing device, and a non-transitory machine-readable medium for allocating configuring, creating, and modifying parallel file systems are disclosed. In one or more example embodiments, a file system object that identifies a set of parameters (e.g., name, capacity, subnetwork, subnetwork partition, etc.) for a parallel file system is received at an orchestration engine from a service. In response to detecting the presence of the file system object, a controller of the orchestration engine creates a set of orchestration objects based on the set of parameters. The orchestration engine then configures a container structure based on the set of orchestration objects. The container structure may include a container for running a file system service for the parallel file system. The orchestration engine mounts a set of volumes in a distributed storage system to the container structure for use in running the parallel file system.