SeawedFS

Questions & Answers

What is SeaweedFS?

SeaweedFS is a highly scalable distributed file system that functions as a blob store and can optionally support POSIX attributes and directories via a Filer. Its primary design goals are to store billions of files and serve them rapidly.

Who is SeaweedFS designed for?

SeaweedFS is ideal for developers and organizations that need to manage a massive number of small files efficiently, serving them with low latency. It is suitable for applications requiring object storage or a distributed file system with high throughput.

How does SeaweedFS differentiate itself from other distributed file systems like HDFS or Ceph?

SeaweedFS differentiates by managing file metadata primarily on volume servers, reducing pressure on the central master and enabling O(1) disk reads for faster file access. It also started as a blob store inspired by Facebook's Haystack, focusing on efficiency for small files, unlike HDFS which is optimized for large files.

In what scenarios should I consider using SeaweedFS?

You should consider SeaweedFS when you need a distributed storage solution for billions of small to medium-sized files, require fast access times, and need a system that is easy to scale horizontally. It's particularly strong for use cases like image storage, CDN backends, or any application needing high-performance blob storage.

What metadata store options are available for the SeaweedFS Filer?

The optional SeaweedFS Filer is a stateless server that supports various customizable metadata stores, including MySQL, PostgreSQL, Redis, Cassandra, HBase, MongoDB, Elastic Search, LevelDB, RocksDB, SQLite, and TiDB. This flexibility allows integration with existing database infrastructure.