1. A method for performing a write operation, the method comprising: storing a parent file on persistent storage in a filesystem; atomically persisting one or more replica files of the stored file on persistent storage local to one or more respective replica nodes in the filesystem, wherein each replica file is embedded with a respective set of data, and wherein each set of data comprises information for self-characterizing each respective replica file; and atomically updating a map stored on persistent storage local to a metadata node, wherein the map maintains information for identifying, at a given replica node, each replica file having at least one block allocated at the given replica node.