The parameters for each distribution are defined in a struct defined specifically for the distribution, and an individual instance of the parameters is stored in the metadata of every file.
Both the PVFS_sys_dist and PINT_dist data structures maintain a pointer to the same distribution parameters. The parameters are passed into every call to distribution code so that distribution can modify its behavior as neccesary. The distribution provider can also provide a method for setting the distribution parameters explicitly as described in the distribution methods below.