Abstract: A computer-executable method, computer program product, and system of managing I/O requests in a distributed data storage system, wherein the distributed data storage system includes a first node and one or more data storage array, the computer-executable method, computer program product, and system comprising receiving an I/O request at the first node enabled to utilize a storage engine to process the I/O request, wherein the storage engine is comprised of two or more layers, analyzing the I/O request using a first layer of the two or more layers to determine whether the I/O request relates to a portion of metadata managed by the first layer of the two or more layers, and processing the I/O request based on the determination.

Abstract: A computer-executable method, computer program product, and system for managing metadata within a distributed data storage system, including a compute node in communication with a data storage array, the computer-executable method, computer program product, and system comprising receiving a data I/O from an application executing within the distributed data storage system, and creating a first storage system within the compute node, wherein the first storage system is enabled to manage metadata related to the data I/O, and processing the data I/O using the first storage system.