Storage Node

A storage node is an individual computing and storage device that operates as part of a larger parallel storage system. It contains local storage media (such as HDDs, SSDs, or NVMe drives), processing resources, and network interfaces. Within the parallel architecture, multiple storage nodes work collaboratively to distribute data across the system, enabling high-throughput data access, redundancy through replication or erasure coding, and scalable capacity expansion. Each node typically runs specialized software that manages data placement, coordinates with other nodes, and handles client requests.

The storage node receives data read/write requests via its network interface. Its local processor executes the storage system's software stack, which determines data placement (often striping data across multiple nodes), manages local storage media, and communicates with other nodes to maintain data consistency, redundancy, and performance. For writes, data may be written locally and replicated to other nodes. For reads, it may serve data directly or participate in parallel read operations from multiple nodes.