Patent ID: 6931450

Claim:
An apparatus comprising: a computing node configured to generate a request to open a file, wherein said computing node is configured not to cache data from said file; a storage; and a metadata server coupled to receive said request, wherein said metadata server is configured to provide at least a first file identifier corresponding to said file responsive to said request, said first file identifier identifying at least a portion of said file within said storage, and wherein said metadata server is further configured to provide a device identifier identifying said storage on an interconnect to which at least said computing node and said storage are coupled; wherein said computing node is coupled to receive said first file identifier and said device identifier for directly accessing said storage on said interconnect, and wherein said computing node is configured to transmit an access command to said storage to close said file, and wherein said storage is configured to transmit an indication to said metadata server including said first file identifier to inform said metadata server of said file being closed.