How to create a distributed replicated GlusterFS volume

Distributed replicated GlusterFS volumes provide shared storage that scales across multiple servers while keeping redundant copies of data available during node or disk failures.

A distributed-replicate volume groups multiple bricks into replica sets, then distributes files across those sets using GlusterFS hashing. Reads can be served from any replica member, while writes are committed to every replica member to preserve redundancy.

Volume layout depends on brick count, brick ordering, and consistent node naming. The total brick count must be a multiple of the replica count, and consecutive bricks form each replica set, so replica members should be placed on different nodes and different disks to avoid correlated outages.

1. Verify the trusted storage pool has all peers in Connected state.

   $ sudo gluster peer status
   Number of Peers: 3
   
   Hostname: node2
   Uuid: 1f8f4b1a-2d7b-4e3b-ae6c-0a9c2c9c4f51
   State: Peer in Cluster (Connected)
   
   Hostname: node3
   Uuid: 8c5f0c33-7e1b-4d8b-9b9f-8a4b2f0a5a21
   State: Peer in Cluster (Connected)
   
   Hostname: node4
   Uuid: 5d0f8a6b-9b2f-4f62-8df8-2c7e7a8d3b90
   State: Peer in Cluster (Connected)

   Use DNS-resolvable hostnames or static entries in /etc/hosts so brick hostnames resolve consistently across all peers.

   Related: How to set up a trusted storage pool for GlusterFS

2. Create an empty brick directory on each node that will host a brick.

   $ sudo mkdir -p /srv/gluster/brick1

   Avoid placing bricks on the system filesystem, and keep each brick directory empty to prevent volume creation failures or accidental overwrites.

   Related: How to mount disks and partitions in Linux

3. Create the distributed replicated volume with bricks listed in replica-set order.

   $ sudo gluster volume create volume1 replica 2 transport tcp node1:/srv/gluster/brick1 node2:/srv/gluster/brick1 node3:/srv/gluster/brick1 node4:/srv/gluster/brick1
   volume create: volume1: success: please start the volume to access data

   Total bricks must be a multiple of replica, and consecutive bricks form each replica set (for replica 2: bricks 1–2, then bricks 3–4), so list bricks in the intended pairing order and place each pair on different nodes and disks.

   Avoid using the force option unless the consequences are fully understood, since it can bypass safety checks on brick paths.

4. Start the new volume.

   $ sudo gluster volume start volume1
   volume start: volume1: success

5. Verify the volume information output shows the expected type with the expected brick count.

   $ sudo gluster volume info volume1
   Volume Name: volume1
   Type: Distributed-Replicate
   Status: Started
   Number of Bricks: 2 x 2 = 4
   Bricks:
   Brick1: node1:/srv/gluster/brick1
   Brick2: node2:/srv/gluster/brick1
   Brick3: node3:/srv/gluster/brick1
   Brick4: node4:/srv/gluster/brick1

6. Verify all bricks report Online in the volume status output.

   $ sudo gluster volume status volume1
   Status of volume: volume1
   Gluster process                             TCP Port  RDMA Port  Online  Pid
   ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
   Brick node1:/srv/gluster/brick1             49152     0          Y       2471
   Brick node2:/srv/gluster/brick1             49153     0          Y       2398
   Brick node3:/srv/gluster/brick1             49154     0          Y       2510
   Brick node4:/srv/gluster/brick1             49155     0          Y       2432