Communication between metadata servers

The metadata servers communicate with each other for a variety of reasons. For example, they exchange heartbeats, which are messages sent periodically from one metadata server to another so that each knows that the other is still active. If a metadata server stops sending heartbeats for a specific period of time (which is set with heartbeat parameters), the other metadata servers form the cluster again without it.

The master metadata server communicates with its subordinate metadata servers to perform many administrative tasks, such as supplying the metadata servers with the current workload map and querying metadata server status. It also contacts them to process requests from administrators to perform tasks such as draining volumes and creating FlashCopy® images of filesets.

Subordinate metadata servers initiate contact with the master metadata server for specific tasks, such as acquiring more space or obtaining file placement policy information.

Parent topic: Cluster

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