4.3 KiB
ipfs-cluster
Clustering for IPFS nodes.
WORK IN PROGRESS
DO NOT USE IN PRODUCTION
ipfs-cluster is a tool which groups a number of IPFS nodes together, allowing to collectively perform operations such as pinning.
In order to do so IPFS Cluster server nodes use a libp2p-based consensus algorithm (currently Raft) to agree on a log of operations and build a consistent state across the cluster. The state represents which objects should be pinned by which nodes.
Additionally, server nodes act as a proxy/wrapper to the IPFS API, so they can be used as a regular node, with the difference that pin requests are handled by the Cluster.
IPFS Cluster provides a server application (ipfscluster-server), a Go API, a HTTP API and a command-line tool (ipfscluster).
Current functionality only allows pinning in all cluster members, but more strategies (like setting a replication factor for each pin) will be developed.
Table of Contents
Background
Since the start of IPFS it was clear that a tool to coordinate a number of different nodes (and the content they are supposed to store) would add a great value to the IPFS ecosystem. Naïve approaches are possible, but they present some weaknesses, specially at dealing with error handling and incorporating multiple pinning strategies.
ipfs-cluster aims to address this issues by providing a IPFS node wrapper which coordinates multiple cluster members via a consensus algorithm. This ensures that the desired state of the system is always agreed upon and can be easily maintained by the members of the cluster. Thus, every cluster member has an overview of where each hash is pinned, and the cluster can react to any contingencies, like IPFS nodes dying, by redistributing the storage load to others.
Install
In order to install ipfs-cluster simply download this repository and run make as follows:
$ go get -u -d github.com/ipfs/ipfs-cluster
$ cd $GOPATH/src/github.com/ipfs/ipfs-cluster
$ make install
This will install the ipfs-cluster executables (ipfscluster-server and ipfscluster) in your $GOPATH/bin folder.
Usage
ipfscluster-server
ipfscluster-server runs a member node for the cluster. Usage information can be obtained running:
$ ipfscluster-server -h
Before running ipfscluster-server for the first time, initialize a configuration file with:
$ ipfscluster-server -init
The configuration will be placed in ~/.ipfs-cluster/server.json.
You can add the multiaddresses for the other members of the cluster in the cluster_peers variable.
ipfscluster
ipfscluster is the client application to manage the cluster servers and perform actions. ipfscluster uses the HTTP API provided by the server nodes.
TODO: This is not done yet
Go
IPFS Cluster nodes can be launched directly from Go. The Cluster object provides methods to interact with the cluster and perform actions.
Documentation and examples on how to use IPFS Cluster from Go can be found in godoc.org/github.com/ipfs/ipfs-cluster.
API
TODO: Swagger
Contribute
PRs accepted.
Small note: If editing the README, please conform to the standard-readme specification.
License
MIT © Protocol Labs, Inc.