Managing retained container objects in storage having referenced chunks referenced in other objects

A system for managing data in objects in storage, comprising:

• a processor;
• and
• a computer readable storage medium having computer readable program code embodied therein that when executed by the processor performs operations, the operations:
• maintaining reference counts for referenced chunks in a container object indicating a number of references to the referenced chunks in at least one application object resulting from deduplication;
• indicating the container object as reclaim eligible while the reference counts for at least one of the referenced chunks for the container object is at least one;
• decrementing a reference count for one of the referenced chunks in the container object in response to the at least one application object expiring;
• and
• indicating the container object, including chunks for the container object, as eligible for deletion when the reference counts for the referenced chunks in the container object are zero and the container object is indicated as reclaim eligible.

A method for managing data in objects in storage, comprising:

• maintaining reference counts for referenced chunks in a container object indicating a number of references to the referenced chunks in at least one application object resulting from deduplication;
• indicating the container object as reclaim eligible while the reference counts for at least one of the referenced chunks for the container object is at least one;
• decrementing a reference count for one of the referenced chunks in the container object in response to the at least one application object expiring;
• and
• indicating the container object, including chunks for the container object, as eligible for deletion when the reference counts for the referenced chunks in the container object are zero and the container object is indicated as reclaim eligible.