Transparent referrals for distributed file servers

Abstract

Examples of systems described herein include a virtualized file server including a first file server virtual machine and a second file server virtual machine configured to manage a distributed file share of storage items. The second file server virtual machine is configured to manage a particular storage item of the distributed file share of storage items. The first file server virtual machine is configured to, in response to receipt of a referral request for a file share path for the particular storage item from a client, look up a file share path for the particular storage item in a map of at least a portion of the distributed file share of storage items, and provide a referral with the file share path that identifies the second file server virtual machine.

1 . (canceled) 
     
     
         2 . A system comprising:
 a plurality of host machines, each host machine configured to host at least one file server virtual machine (FSVM) to provide a plurality of FSVMs, the plurality of FSVMs configured to form a virtualized file server (VFS), the VFS including a file system hosted on each host machine;   each FSVM configured to present a namespace of storage items including a distributed file share, the distributed file share having a plurality of directories, the namespace implemented using a storage pool including local storage distributed across the plurality of host machines, each file system storing metadata associated with the plurality of directories;   wherein the VFS is configured to:
 receive a request to enumerate the distributed file share of the namespace, the distributed file share managed across the plurality of FSVMs; 
 retrieve the metadata associated with the plurality of directories of the distributed file share; and 
 update a metadata database with the metadata. 
   
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 2 , wherein the plurality of host machines includes a first host machine configured to provide a first FSVM and wherein the first FSVM is configured to receive the request to enumerate the distributed file share. 
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 2 , wherein the metadata associated with the plurality of directories of the distributed file share is retrieved from each file system. 
     
     
         5 . The system of  claim 4 , wherein each file system is associated with a respective FSVM hosted on the host machine. 
     
     
         6 . The system of  claim 2 , wherein the file systems hosted on the host machines form a distributed file system. 
     
     
         7 . The system of  claim 2 , wherein the VFS is configured to retrieve the metadata associated with the plurality of directories of the distributed file share using a single query. 
     
     
         8 . The system of  claim 2 , wherein the VFS is further configured to allocate a buffer for the metadata. 
     
     
         9 . The system of  claim 8 , wherein the VFS is further configured to iterate over entries in the buffer to build a response to the request to enumerate the distributed file share of the namespace. 
     
     
         10 . At least one non-transitory computer readable media encoded with instructions, which, when executed, cause a virtualized file server (VFS) to perform actions, the actions including:
 receive a request to enumerate a distributed file share of a namespace of storage items, the distributed file share having a plurality of directories, the distributed file share managed across a plurality of file server virtual machines (FSVMs), each of the plurality of FSVMs hosted by a respective host machine of a plurality of host machines, and wherein the plurality of FSVMs are configured to form the virtualized file server, the each of the plurality of FSVMs configured to present the namespace, the namespace implemented using a storage pool including local storage distributed across the plurality of host machines, the VFS including a file system hosted on each of the plurality of host machines, each file system storing metadata associated with the plurality of directories;   retrieve the metadata associated with the plurality of directories of the distributed file share; and   update a metadata database with the metadata.   
     
     
         11 . The at least one non-transitory computer readable media of  claim 10 , wherein the plurality of host machines includes a first host machine configured to provide a first FSVM and wherein the first FSVM is configured to receive the request to enumerate the distributed file share. 
     
     
         12 . The at least one non-transitory computer readable media of  claim 10 , wherein the actions comprise retrieve the metadata associated with the plurality of directories of the distributed file share from each file system. 
     
     
         13 . The at least one non-transitory computer readable media of  claim 12 , wherein each file system is associated with a respective FSVM hosted on the host machine. 
     
     
         14 . The at least one non-transitory computer readable media of  claim 11 , wherein the file systems hosted on the plurality of host machines form a distributed file system. 
     
     
         15 . The at least one non-transitory computer readable media of  claim 11 , wherein the actions comprise retrieve the metadata associated with the plurality of directories of the distributed file share using a single query. 
     
     
         16 . The at least one non-transitory computer readable media of  claim 11 , wherein the actions further comprise allocate a buffer for the metadata. 
     
     
         17 . The at least one non-transitory computer readable media of  claim 16 , wherein the actions further comprise iterate over entries in the buffer to build a response to the request to enumerate the distributed file share of the namespace. 
     
     
         18 . At method comprising:
 receive, at a virtualized file server (VFS), a request to enumerate a distributed file share of a namespace of storage items, the distributed file share having a plurality of directories, the distributed file share managed across a plurality of file server virtual machines (FSVMs), each of the plurality of FSVMs hosted by a respective host machine of a plurality of host machines, and wherein the plurality of FSVMs are configured to form the virtualized file server, the each of the plurality of FSVMs configured to present the namespace, the namespace implemented using a storage pool including local storage distributed across the plurality of host machines, the VFS including a file system hosted on each of the plurality of host machines, each file system storing metadata associated with the plurality of directories;   retrieve the metadata associated with the plurality of directories of the distributed file share; and   update a metadata database with the metadata.   
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 18 , wherein the plurality of host machines includes a first host machine configured to provide a first FSVM and wherein the first FSVM is configured to receive the request to enumerate the distributed file share. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 18 , further comprising retrieve the metadata associated with the plurality of directories of the distributed file share from each file system. 
     
     
         21 . The method of  claim 20 , wherein each file system is associated with a respective FSVM hosted on the host machine. 
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 18 , wherein the file systems hosted on the plurality of host machines form a distributed file system. 
     
     
         23 . The method of  claim 18 , wherein the method further comprises retrieve the metadata associated with the plurality of directories of the distributed file share using a single query. 
     
     
         24 . The method of  claim 18 , wherein the method further comprises allocate a buffer for the metadata. 
     
     
         25 . The method of  claim 24 , wherein the method further comprises iterate over entries in the buffer to build a response to the request to enumerate the distributed file share of the namespace.