1. A method, performed by a device in a distributed system, the method comprising: detecting, by the device, a request from an application to access an application dataset, wherein the application dataset corresponds to a distributed dataset; determining, by the device, whether the application dataset exists in the distributed system; creating, by the device, the application dataset in the distributed system, in response to determining that the application dataset does not exist in the distributed system; and sending, by the device and to other devices in the distributed system, a request to join a dataset group that includes devices associated with the application dataset, in response to determining that the application dataset exists in the distributed system.