Lustre
Lustre is a free, open-source parallel file system for Linux and self-hosted high-performance computing.
What Lustre is
Lustre is a free, open-source parallel file system for Linux and self-hosted high-performance computing. Its distributed client-server architecture presents applications with a coherent POSIX interface. A single file system can expose hundreds of petabytes to thousands of compute clients, with high throughput over Ethernet, InfiniBand, Intel Omni-Path, and other fabrics through LNet routing and multi-rail balancing. Lustre supports ldiskfs and OpenZFS storage back ends. Redundant servers and inter-node failover provide high-availability options, but Lustre does not replicate data objects between storage servers; the storage subsystem handles reliability. Security features include shared-secret-key authentication and encryption. Official downloads provide RPM packages and source links, with typical system directories for RHEL, SLES, and Ubuntu and separate client and server packages. Servers require Lustre-specific e2fsprogs packages. Linux ldiskfs server setup requires a patched kernel, while the ZFS server option and client code do not. Documentation is offered in HTML, PDF, and ePub, with community mailing lists and commercial support options through OpenSFS.
Good
- Free and open-source
- POSIX access for applications
- Scales to hundreds of petabytes
- Supports multiple high-speed fabrics
- Inter-node failover options
Watch out
- Self-hosted Linux deployment required
- Lustre does not replicate data objects
- ldiskfs servers need a patched kernel
- Online OST shrinking is unsupported
Who it suits
Lustre suits HPC environments ranging from smaller systems to leadership-class supercomputers. It is for administrators able to deploy and manage Linux, self-hosted storage infrastructure.
Verdict
Lustre provides scalable parallel storage for demanding Linux HPC deployments. Its performance and failover features are balanced by infrastructure requirements and reliance on the underlying storage system for data replication and reliability.
The facts
Each one read from Lustre's own pages, with the date it was checked.
What it does
- Architecture
- Lustre is a distributed, POSIX-compliant file system with a client-server architecture.checked 4 Oct 2026
- Audience
- The project describes Lustre as serving environments from small-scale HPC systems to the largest supercomputers.checked 4 Oct 2026
- Availability
- Redundant servers can support failover, and Lustre describes high-availability configurations using shared storage and inter-node failover.checked 4 Oct 2026
- Community
- The official site links to community mailing lists and development activities including code work, testing, bug filing, and benchmarking.checked 4 Oct 2026
- Data reliability
- Lustre does not replicate data objects across storage servers; data reliability is handled by the storage subsystem.checked 4 Oct 2026
- Documentation
- The Operations Manual is available in HTML, PDF, and ePub formats and accepts community patches, reviews, and suggestions.checked 4 Oct 2026
- Download
- The official download page offers RPM packages for a number of platforms and links to the public source repository.checked 4 Oct 2026
- Downloads
- The official download page offers RPM packages for multiple platforms and links to the public source repository.checked 4 Oct 2026
- Hardware and networks
- Lustre can run on commodity hardware with block storage such as disks, RAID, or logical volume management, and supports Ethernet and InfiniBand.checked 4 Oct 2026
- Help and support
- The official getting-started page directs users to the Operations Manual, wiki, and community mailing lists, and points to OpenSFS for paid commercial support options.checked 4 Oct 2026
- High availability
- Lustre supports inter-node failover, but data objects are not replicated between storage servers by Lustre itself.checked 4 Oct 2026
- Intended users
- The official site describes Lustre as supporting leadership-class HPC simulation environments, and its documentation covers deployments from smaller HPC systems to supercomputers.checked 4 Oct 2026
- Networking
- LNet supports Ethernet, InfiniBand, Intel Omni-Path, and other compute fabrics, with routing and multi-rail traffic balancing.checked 4 Oct 2026
- Online expansion limit
- Lustre supports adding OST and MDT targets online, but shrinking OST file systems online is not supported.checked 4 Oct 2026
- Performance
- Lustre is designed for high throughput and can use high-speed fabrics including Ethernet and InfiniBand.checked 4 Oct 2026
- POSIX interface
- Lustre clients present applications with a coherent POSIX file system interface.checked 4 Oct 2026
- Product
- Lustre is an open-source, parallel file system for high-performance computing environments.checked 4 Oct 2026
- Scale
- A Lustre file system can present hundreds of petabytes of storage to thousands of compute clients.checked 4 Oct 2026
- Security
- The Lustre features category lists shared-secret-key authentication and encryption.checked 4 Oct 2026
- Server requirement
- Lustre servers require Lustre-specific e2fsprogs RPM packages.checked 4 Oct 2026
- Storage back ends
- Lustre supports ldiskfs and OpenZFS as back-end file systems.checked 4 Oct 2026
- Supported systems
- The download wiki says supported operating system subdirectories typically include RHEL, SLES, and Ubuntu, with separate client and server RPMs.checked 4 Oct 2026
- Testing and administration
- The source includes tests and a framework for testing components and benchmarking the file system and network; the official getting-started page points administrators to logs and the Operations Manual.checked 4 Oct 2026
Where it runs
- Linux support
- Lustre runs on Linux distributions including RHEL, CentOS, and SLES; server setup with ldiskfs requires a patched kernel, while the ZFS server option and client code do not require kernel patches.checked 4 Oct 2026
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