A distributed computing system is described that leverages a nearline storage layer to minimize the downtime required for bootstrapping a new computing cluster in the distributed computing system. The system executes a computing cluster comprising a set of computing nodes and determines a set of one or more data segments to be written to a nearline storage system. The system writes the data segments to the nearline storage system. In certain examples, the system receives a request to create a second computing cluster and responsive to the request, bootstraps the second computing cluster using the set of data segments stored on the nearline storage system. The system additionally leverages the nearline storage layer to accelerate query processing by the computing nodes of a computing cluster.