In a running distributed data storage system that actively processes I/Os, metadata nodes
are commissioned and decommissioned without taking down the storage system and
without introducing interruptions to metadata or payload data I/O. The inflow of reads and
writes continues without interruption even while new metadata nodes are in the process of
being added and/or removed and the strong consistency of the system is guaranteed.
Commissioning and decommissioning nodes within the running system enables streamlined …