Patent ID: 7650341

Claim:
A distributed, segmented single file system comprising: a first server that controls metadata of a first segment of the distributed, segmented single file system, the first segment including file system entities comprising at least portions of at least one of files or directories; and a second server, communicatively coupled to the first server, that controls metadata of a second segment of the distributed, segmented single file system, the second segment including file system entities comprising at least portions of at least one of files or directories, the second server being distinct from the first server and the second segment being distinct from the first segment; the first segment including a first file and the second segment including a first directory pointing to the first file, the first segment including a file identifier of the first file and a second consistency-check identifier associated with the file identifier; the second segment further including a D_entry including a first consistency-check identifier associated with the file identifier of the first file; and restore and recover modules communicatively coupled to the first and second servers and configured to restore and recover the first directory and to analyze the first consistency-check identifier and the second consistency-check identifier to determine consistency of the restored first directory and the first file.