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https://issues.apache.org/jira/browse/HDFS-5698?page=com.atlassian.jira.plugin.system.issuetabpanels:comment-tabpanel&focusedCommentId=13859123#comment-13859123
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Colin Patrick McCabe commented on HDFS-5698:
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This is a good idea. I agree with Todd that we'll still need feature flags, to
avoid data loss when starting up with a different version. Also, we should
keep the current deserialization logic around so that we have backwards
compatibility, the same as we have done in the past. That way, this can be
quickly and compatibly backported to branch-2, rather than maintaining a fork
of the whole FSImage deserialization code in trunk.
> Use protobuf to serialize / deserialize FSImage
> -----------------------------------------------
>
> Key: HDFS-5698
> URL: https://issues.apache.org/jira/browse/HDFS-5698
> Project: Hadoop HDFS
> Issue Type: Improvement
> Reporter: Haohui Mai
> Assignee: Haohui Mai
>
> Currently, the code serializes FSImage using in-house serialization
> mechanisms. There are a couple disadvantages of the current approach:
> # Mixing the responsibility of reconstruction and serialization /
> deserialization. The current code paths of serialization / deserialization
> have spent a lot of effort on maintaining compatibility. What is worse is
> that they are mixed with the complex logic of reconstructing the namespace,
> making the code difficult to follow.
> # Poor documentation of the current FSImage format. The format of the FSImage
> is practically defined by the implementation. An bug in implementation means
> a bug in the specification. Furthermore, it also makes writing third-party
> tools quite difficult.
> # Changing schemas is non-trivial. Adding a field in FSImage requires bumping
> the layout version every time. Bumping out layout version requires (1) the
> users to explicitly upgrade the clusters, and (2) putting new code to
> maintain backward compatibility.
> This jira proposes to use protobuf to serialize the FSImage. Protobuf has
> been used to serialize / deserialize the RPC message in Hadoop.
> Protobuf addresses all the above problems. It clearly separates the
> responsibility of serialization and reconstructing the namespace. The
> protobuf files document the current format of the FSImage. The developers now
> can add optional fields with ease, since the old code can always read the new
> FSImage.
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