Streamlined secondary copy operations for data stored on shared file storage

A system comprising:

• a plurality of computing devices, wherein each computing device among the plurality of computing devices comprises one or more hardware processors and computer memory;
• wherein a second computing device among the plurality of computing devices is configured to:
• initiate a backup operation of first data, wherein the first data is not defined in any data grouping definitions that are configured at the second computing device, and wherein the first data is stored at a shared file storage, and wherein the backup operation is initiated based on a first preference that is configured at the second computing device, and wherein the first preference is configured to govern data that is not defined in the data grouping definitions that are configured at the second computing device;
• at runtime of the backup operation, select, from among the plurality of computing devices, a first computing device to perform the backup operation, and
• wherein to select the first computing device from among the plurality of computing devices, the second computing device is configured to determine that at least one of:
• (a) a file system of the first computing device is configured to natively read the first data from the shared file storage, and
• (b) a file system communication protocol at the first computing device is configured to natively access the first data at the shared file storage;
• wherein the first computing device is configured to:
• communicate with the shared file storage using the file system communication protocol, and is further configured to communicate with secondary storage for storing one or more secondary copies of the first data generated by the backup operation;
• and
• wherein the second computing device comprises a second preference that indicates the secondary storage for storing secondary copies of the first data, and
• wherein neither the first preference nor the second preference indicates that the first computing device is to be selected to perform the backup operation.