The GFS Shared File System is a shared file system that allows simultaneous access from multiple Linux systems to which a shared disk device is connected. (A file system of this type is referred to as a shared file system. A file system such as ext3 that will be used only within a node is referred to as a local file system.)
The GFS Shared File System is an optimum shared file system for business uses that are API-compatible with ext2/ext3, and provides high reliability and high performance.
The GFS Shared File System maintains consistency of data even with updating from multiple nodes, enabling data transfer by a distributed application with a conventional API when the application is executed on multiple nodes.
Also, contiguous file operation on other nodes is assured even though one node fails, making the GFS Shared File System especially suitable for an environment that requires high availability of the file system.
The GFS Shared File System has the following functions:
Simultaneous shared access from multiple nodes to files or file systems
Maintaining consistency for file data reference and updating from multiple nodes
File access using a file cache on each node
Continuous file operation on other nodes if one node fails while maintaining file system consistency
High-speed file system recovery function
High-speed I/O processing by contiguous block assignment to areas in a file
Support of multi-partition to implement I/O processing load distribution
Support of multi-partition to implement the extension of file system size without rebuilding file system
GUI-based file system operation using a Web browser
Like the ext2/ext3 file system, the following application interface is commonly available:
See
For the functions that are unavailable with the GFS Shared File System, see "1.8.2 Unavailable functions."
