diff --git a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/CHANGES.txt b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/CHANGES.txt
index 913684a9971..7d53324acc8 100644
--- a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/CHANGES.txt
+++ b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/CHANGES.txt
@@ -594,6 +594,9 @@ Release 2.0.0 - UNRELEASED
 
     HDFS-3359. DFSClient.close should close cached sockets. (todd)
 
+    HDFS-3350. In INode, add final to compareTo(..), equals(..) and hashCode(),
+    and remove synchronized from updatePermissionStatus(..).  (szetszwo)
+
   BREAKDOWN OF HDFS-1623 SUBTASKS
 
     HDFS-2179. Add fencing framework and mechanisms for NameNode HA. (todd)
diff --git a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/server/namenode/INode.java b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/server/namenode/INode.java
index cdad315f7a4..2bc049dbfa7 100644
--- a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/server/namenode/INode.java
+++ b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/server/namenode/INode.java
@@ -30,6 +30,8 @@ import org.apache.hadoop.hdfs.protocol.Block;
 import org.apache.hadoop.hdfs.server.blockmanagement.BlockInfo;
 import org.apache.hadoop.util.StringUtils;
 
+import com.google.common.primitives.SignedBytes;
+
 /**
  * We keep an in-memory representation of the file/block hierarchy.
  * This is a base INode class containing common fields for file and 
@@ -143,8 +145,7 @@ abstract class INode implements Comparable<byte[]>, FSInodeInfo {
   protected PermissionStatus getPermissionStatus() {
     return new PermissionStatus(getUserName(),getGroupName(),getFsPermission());
   }
-  private synchronized void updatePermissionStatus(
-      PermissionStatusFormat f, long n) {
+  private void updatePermissionStatus(PermissionStatusFormat f, long n) {
     permission = f.combine(n, permission);
   }
   /** Get user name */
@@ -400,48 +401,30 @@ abstract class INode implements Comparable<byte[]>, FSInodeInfo {
     }
   }
 
-  //
-  // Comparable interface
-  //
-  public int compareTo(byte[] o) {
-    return compareBytes(name, o);
+  private static final byte[] EMPTY_BYTES = {};
+
+  @Override
+  public final int compareTo(byte[] bytes) {
+    final byte[] left = name == null? EMPTY_BYTES: name;
+    final byte[] right = bytes == null? EMPTY_BYTES: bytes;
+    return SignedBytes.lexicographicalComparator().compare(left, right);
   }
 
-  public boolean equals(Object o) {
-    if (!(o instanceof INode)) {
+  @Override
+  public final boolean equals(Object that) {
+    if (this == that) {
+      return true;
+    }
+    if (that == null || !(that instanceof INode)) {
       return false;
     }
-    return Arrays.equals(this.name, ((INode)o).name);
+    return Arrays.equals(this.name, ((INode)that).name);
   }
 
-  public int hashCode() {
+  @Override
+  public final int hashCode() {
     return Arrays.hashCode(this.name);
   }
-
-  //
-  // static methods
-  //
-  /**
-   * Compare two byte arrays.
-   * 
-   * @return a negative integer, zero, or a positive integer 
-   * as defined by {@link #compareTo(byte[])}.
-   */
-  static int compareBytes(byte[] a1, byte[] a2) {
-    if (a1==a2)
-        return 0;
-    int len1 = (a1==null ? 0 : a1.length);
-    int len2 = (a2==null ? 0 : a2.length);
-    int n = Math.min(len1, len2);
-    byte b1, b2;
-    for (int i=0; i<n; i++) {
-      b1 = a1[i];
-      b2 = a2[i];
-      if (b1 != b2)
-        return b1 - b2;
-    }
-    return len1 - len2;
-  }
   
   /**
    * Create an INode; the inode's name is not set yet
diff --git a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/server/namenode/INodeDirectory.java b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/server/namenode/INodeDirectory.java
index 0f1a8a224db..72f7b44ab0b 100644
--- a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/server/namenode/INodeDirectory.java
+++ b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/server/namenode/INodeDirectory.java
@@ -173,9 +173,9 @@ class INodeDirectory extends INode {
    */
   int getExistingPathINodes(byte[][] components, INode[] existing, 
       boolean resolveLink) throws UnresolvedLinkException {
-    assert compareBytes(this.name, components[0]) == 0 :
-      "Incorrect name " + getLocalName() + " expected " + 
-      DFSUtil.bytes2String(components[0]);
+    assert this.compareTo(components[0]) == 0 :
+        "Incorrect name " + getLocalName() + " expected "
+        + (components[0] == null? null: DFSUtil.bytes2String(components[0]));
 
     INode curNode = this;
     int count = 0;
@@ -317,8 +317,7 @@ class INodeDirectory extends INode {
                               INode newNode,
                               INodeDirectory parent,
                               boolean propagateModTime
-                              ) throws FileNotFoundException, 
-                                       UnresolvedLinkException {
+                              ) throws FileNotFoundException {
     // insert into the parent children list
     newNode.name = localname;
     if(parent.addChild(newNode, propagateModTime) == null)