Patent attributes
Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer program products feature selecting a file in a distributed file system. The file is associated with a time to live derived from a path name for the file. The file is divided into a plurality of chunks that are distributed among a plurality of servers. Each chunk has a respective modification time indicating when the chunk was last modified. A latest respective modification time among the respective modification times of each of the plurality of chunks is selected. A determination is made as to whether an elapsed time based on the latest modification time is equal to or exceeds the time to live. Each of the chunks of the file is deleted responsive to the determination. Other embodiments of this aspect include corresponding systems, apparatus, and computer program products.
