GlusterFS(GNU ClusterFile System) is an open source distributed file system, its history can be traced back to 2006, and its initial goal is to replace Lustre and GPFS distributed file systems. After eight years of vigorous development, GlusterFS is very active in the open source community, and this rising star has become one of the four open source distributed file systems alongside Lustre, MooseFS and CEPH. GlusterFS has unique advantages in expansibility, reliability, performance and maintainability because of its novelty and KISS(KeepIt as Stupid and Simple) system architecture. At present, the open source community is overwhelming, and a large number of users at home and abroad are researching, testing and deploying applications.

Of course, GlusterFS is not a perfect distributed file system, and the system itself has many shortcomings, including the well-known metadata performance and small file problems. No distributed file system can be universally applied to various application scenarios. Universal means none of them can be used. The four open source systems are no exception, and all commercial products are no exception. Each distributed file system has its own applicable application scenarios, and the appropriate one is the best. This time, we will do the opposite, instead of talking about the advantages of GlusterFS, we will talk about the existing problems and shortcomings of GlusterFS in depth, so as to have a deeper understanding of GlusterFS system, hoping to help you make correct system selection decisions and avoid problems in application. At the same time, these problems are also a good starting point for GlusterFS research and development.