FrostFS

A filesystem where unused files slowly "freeze" over time. Frozen files take longer to access, and extremely frozen files become read-only until "thawed."

What is FrostFS?

FrostFS is an intelligent filesystem that automatically manages file accessibility based on usage patterns. Just like ice forming on a cold window, files that aren't used gradually accumulate "frost" - becoming slower to access and eventually read-only until explicitly thawed.

See It In Action

Watch the demo video to see a quick overview of FrostFS's basic(cli, tui and the web interface) features—without having to install anything first.

The Freezing Process:

• Active → Chilled → Frozen → Deep Frozen → Glacier Storage

Features

Core Freezing System

• Automatic State Transitions: Files automatically progress through freezing states based on access time
• Configurable Timing: Set your own chill/freeze/deep-freeze time thresholds
• Access Delays: Frozen files incur access delays simulating "thawing time"
• Read-Only Protection: Deep frozen files become read-only until thawed

Advanced Freezing Features

Ice Crystals

Files accumulate fragmentation over time when frozen, simulating ice crystal formation:

• Fragmentation increases access delays
• Defragmentation process to restore performance
• Visual fragmentation percentage tracking

Frost Patterns

Visual representation of file states with emoji patterns:

• 💧 Active - Recently accessed files
• ❄️ Chilled - Some delay in access
• 🧊 Frozen - Significant access delay
• 🏔️ Deep Frozen - Read-only, requires thawing

Seasonal Thawing

Automatic batch thawing cycles based on seasons:

• Spring: Aggressive thawing (80% of frozen files)
• Summer: Moderate thawing (50%)
• Autumn: Light thawing (20%)
• Winter: No thawing - preservation mode

Freezing Algorithms

Multiple intelligent freezing strategies:

• Standard: Time-based freezing only
• Intelligent: Considers access frequency patterns
• Predictive: Predicts future access based on historical patterns

Antifreeze

Some files naturally resist freezing:

• Temporary files, logs, caches resist freezing
• File extensions and patterns affect antifreeze strength
• Configurable antifreeze properties

Glacier Storage

Deep archival system with cost-based recovery:

• Automatic archiving of deeply frozen files
• Compression for storage efficiency
• Recovery cost calculation
• Manual restore operations

Thermal Imaging

Heat maps of file activity:

• Visual representation of "hot" and "cold" files
• Access frequency and recency scoring
• Color-coded activity levels

Freeze Propagation

Directory-level freezing operations:

• Apply freezing policies to entire directories
• Inherited state management
• Batch operations on directory trees

Commandline Interface

# Initialize a FrostFS directory
frostfs init ./my_frost_storage

# Write a file
frostfs write hello.txt "Hello World" -f ./my_frost_storage

# Read a file (with auto-thaw)
frostfs read hello.txt -f ./my_frost_storage --thaw

# List files with frost patterns
frostfs list -f ./my_frost_storage --details

# Show filesystem statistics
frostfs stats -f ./my_frost_storage

# Manually freeze a file
bin/frostfs freeze frozen_file.txt -f ./my_frost_storage

# Thaw frozen files
frostfs thaw frozen_file.txt -f ./my_frost_storage

Terminal User Interface (TUI)

TUI Features

• Dual-pane file browser with color-coded frost states
• Keyboard navigation (arrows, tab, enter)
• File operations (freeze, thaw, defragment)
• Batch operations menu
• Thermal map visualization
• Real-time file information

Web Interface

FrostFS also provides a browser-based GUI made using Ruby on Rails for easier management and visualization of the filesystem.:

https://github.com/arungeorgesaji/FrostFS-Web

Web Features

• Dashboard & Analytics
• File Management
• Visualizations
• System Operations
• Monitoring

P.S: Attached the gem file for the main frostfs library here so you can try out scripts in examples/ if you want. Use the following command to install the gem from the gem file:

gem install frostfs-0.1.0.gem