Distributed Data Storage System Providing De-duplication of Data Using Block Identifiers

A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium containing instructions for accessing data, the data including one or more storage units, the instructions for controlling a computer system to be operable to:

• receive an access request for data, the access request including a client address for the data;
• determine, by a metadata server, a mapping between the client address and one or more storage unit identifiers for the data, each of the one or more storage unit identifiers uniquely identifying content of a storage unit, wherein the metadata server stores mappings on storage unit identifiers that are referenced by client addresses;
• and
• send the one or more storage unit identifiers to one or more block servers, the one or more block servers servicing the request using the one or more storage unit identifiers, wherein the one or more block servers store information on where a storage unit is stored on a block server for a storage unit identifier,
• wherein multiple client addresses associated with a storage unit with a same storage unit identifier are mapped to a single storage unit stored in a storage medium for a block server.

A system comprising:

• a metadata server configured to:
• store mappings on storage unit identifiers that are referenced by client addresses;
• receive an access request for data, the access request including a client address for the data;
• and
• compute one or more storage unit identifiers for the data, each of the one or more storage unit identifiers uniquely identifying content of a storage unit;
• and
• a plurality of block servers wherein block servers are associated with different ranges of storage unit identifiers and store information on where a storage unit is stored on a block server for a storage unit identifier, wherein each block server is configured to:
• receive a storage unit in the one or more storage units if a storage unit identifier corresponds to the range of storage unit identifiers associated with the block server;
• and
• service the request using the received storage unit identifier,
• wherein multiple client addresses associated with a storage unit with a same storage unit identifier are mapped to a single storage unit stored in a storage medium in a block server.