Method and system for sharing data reduction metadata with storage systems

A non-transitory computer readable medium (CRM) comprising computer readable program code, which when executed by a computer processor, enables the computer processor to:

• intercept data intended to be stored on a storage system;
• obtain reduction-pertinent metadata for the data, wherein:
• the reduction pertinent-metadata comprises an operating system allocation unit size, and
• the data is represented across a set of data blocks each spanning the operating system allocation unit size;
• encode the data, based on an interface connection protocol, to obtain a set of connection protocol datagrams;
• incorporate, into at least a subset of the set of connection protocol datagrams, the reduction-pertinent metadata to obtain a set of augmented connection protocol datagrams;
• and
• transmit the set of augmented connection protocol datagrams to the storage system,
• wherein the storage system uses the operating system allocation unit size of the reduction-pertinent metadata in the augmented connection protocol datagram to increase a match frequency of matches between the data and a plurality of data chunks stored in the storage system when performing data reduction.

A system, comprising:

• a host device comprising a computer processor;
• a reduction metadata detector and a host operating system executing on the computer processor,
• wherein the reduction metadata detector, in concert with the host operating system at least in part, is programmed to:
• intercept data intended to be consolidated;
• obtain reduction-pertinent metadata for the data, wherein:
• the reduction pertinent-metadata comprises an operating system allocation unit size, and
• the data is represented across a set of data blocks each spanning the operating system allocation unit size;
• encode the data, based on an interface connection protocol, to obtain a set of connection protocol datagrams;
• incorporate, into at least a subset of the set of connection protocol datagrams, the reduction-pertinent metadata to obtain a set of augmented connection protocol datagrams;
• and
• transmit the set of augmented connection protocol datagrams for consolidation;
• and
• a storage system operatively connected to the host device and configured to use the operating system allocation unit size of the reduction-pertinent metadata in the augmented connection protocol datagram to increase a match frequency of matches between the data and a plurality of data chunks stored in the storage system when performing data reduction.