Examples relate to deploying distributed applications using virtual nodes. In some examples, virtual nodes are created and are each assigned a core subset of a number of processing cores, an Internet protocol (IP) address, and an in-memory file system configured to provide access to a portion of physically shared memory. At this stage, a distributed application that is configured to be deployed to a plurality of machine nodes is deployed to the plurality of virtual nodes. On a first virtual node, a reference to a first dataset stored in physically shared memory is sent to a second virtual node, where the physically shared memory is accessible to each of the plurality of virtual nodes. Next, on the second virtual node, the first dataset is accessed through the in-memory file system of the first virtual node.