NameNode serves as both directory namespace manager and "inode table" for the Hadoop DFS. There is a single NameNode running in any DFS deployment. (Well, except when there is a second backup/failover NameNode.) The NameNode controls two critical tables: 1) filename->blocksequence (namespace) 2) block->machinelist ("inodes") The first table is stored on disk and is very precious. The second table is rebuilt every time the NameNode comes up. 'NameNode' refers to both this class as well as the 'NameNode server'. The 'FSNamesystem' class actually performs most of the filesystem management. The majority of the 'NameNode' class itself is concerned with exposing the IPC interface to the outside world, plus some configuration management. NameNode implements the ClientProtocol interface, which allows clients to ask for DFS services. ClientProtocol is not designed for direct use by authors of DFS client code. End-users should instead use the org.apache.nutch.hadoop.fs.FileSystem class. NameNode also implements the DatanodeProtocol interface, used by DataNode programs that actually store DFS data blocks. These methods are invoked repeatedly and automatically by all the DataNodes in a DFS deployment.
@author Mike Cafarella
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