Zone storage—resilient and efficient storage transactions

A distributed storage (DS) processing unit for use in a distributed storage network (DSN) including at least one DSN memory, the DS processing unit comprising:

• a processor;
• memory operably associated with the processor;
• a non-transitory program of instructions configured to be stored in the memory and executed by the processor, the program of instructions including:
• at least one instruction to select a particular persistence protocol to be applied to a particular revision of source data, the particular persistence protocol selected from among of a plurality of different persistence protocols, each persistence protocol implementing a different balance between durability and persistence;
• at least one instruction to determine the particular revision of source data to be persisted in accordance with the particular persistence protocol;
• at least one instruction to generate a protocol message associated with the particular revision of source data, wherein generating the protocol message is based on the particular persistence protocol;
• and
• at least one instruction to transmit the protocol message to the at least one DSN memory, the protocol message indicating to the at least one DSN memory the particular persistence protocol.

A distributed storage network (DSN) comprising:

• a DSN memory including a plurality of storage units and a first computing core;
• a distributed storage (DS) processing unit including a second computing core, the DS processing unit coupled to the DSN memory via a communications network, and configured to transmit dispersed encoded data slices of source data, including revised data slices representing revisions made to source data, to the DSN memory for storage and later retrieval, the DS processing unit further configured to:
• select a particular persistence protocol to be applied to a particular revision of source data, the particular persistence protocol selected from among of a plurality of different persistence protocols, each persistence protocol implementing a different balance between durability and persistence;
• determine the particular revision of source data to be persisted in accordance with the particular persistence protocol;
• generate a protocol message associated with the particular revision of source data, wherein generating the protocol message is based on the particular persistence protocol;
• transmit the protocol message to the DSN memory, the protocol message indicating to the DSN memory the particular persistence protocol;
• and
• the DSN memory configured to process data slices corresponding to the particular revision of source data in accordance with the particular persistence protocol.