Space efficient distributed storage systems

A method comprising:

• receiving a request to store a first file, which is a new file generated on a first guest of a plurality of guests hosting one or more virtual environments;
• querying a distributed storage volume (DSV) to determine whether a second file that is a copy of the first file is stored in the DSV, wherein the DSV is deployed to memories managed by the one or more virtual environments;
• and
• based on determining from the querying that the second file resides in a logical volume of logical volumes in the DSV, storing a separate reference to the second file in the logical volume of the DSV, wherein the separate reference is replicated to a second guest, and wherein the separate reference is a virtual reference or link to the second file residing in the logical volume in the DSV.

A system comprising:

• a distributed storage volume (DSV) deployed on a plurality of guests hosting one or more virtual environments, wherein the DSV is deployed to memories managed by the one or more virtual environments;
• and
• a first guest of the plurality of guests configured to access a local cache, and a storage controller, the storage controller executing on a processor to:
• receive a request from a program to modify a second file stored in the memories, the second file a replicated copy of a first file replicated to the memories;
• responsive to receiving the request:
• saving updates to the second file;
• querying the DSV to determine whether the DSV includes a third file that matches the updated second file;
• and
• responsive to determining from the querying that the DSV includes the third file, replacing the first file with a separate reference to the third file, wherein the separate reference is a virtual reference or link to the third file residing in a logical volume in the DSV.