I ran into some issues while using rustfs. I am currently using it in a single-node, single-disk setup via Docker. Now I want to expand to more public servers using Docker Compose. What should I do? In the future, if one of the servers is lost, how can I replace it with a new one?

[aiastia]

I ran into some issues while using rustfs. I am currently using it in a single-node, single-disk setup via Docker. Now I want to expand to more public servers using Docker Compose. What should I do? In the future, if one of the servers is lost, how can I replace it with a new one?

[pauldev-hub]

Hi @aiastia ,

Part 1 — Expanding single-node to multi-node with Docker Compose

⚠️ Important caveat first: Distributed mode is currently under testing in RustFS. For production cluster deployments, you may want to wait for the feature to stabilize or use single-node mode with proper backups. (Zoxide)

That said, to expand from single-node to multi-node, you cannot simply add nodes to an existing single-node deployment — single-node (SNSD) uses no erasure coding and the data layout is incompatible with distributed mode.

The correct approach:
Back up all your existing data from the single node
Set up a fresh multi-node cluster using Docker

Compose with all nodes defined from the start in RUSTFS_VOLUMES:
environment:
RUSTFS_VOLUMES: "http://node1:9000/data http://node2:9000/data http://node3:9000/data http://node4:9000/data"
Restore your data to the new cluster via mc mirror or S3 sync

Part 2 — Replacing a failed node
New nodes join as new storage pools with RustFS creating additional sets. The cluster keeps running even when multiple nodes go offline within your erasure coding limits. (Sealos)

To replace a failed node:

Provision a new server with the same hostname as the failed one (RustFS uses hostnames for disk identification)
Mount the disks and restart the RustFS service with identical RUSTFS_VOLUMES config
RustFS's auto-healing will automatically reconstruct missing data shards onto the replacement node from surviving parity shards

If this helped you, please mark it as the answer — it helps others in the community who run into the same issue find the solution faster!