Transferring differences between chunks during replication

A system comprising:

• a storage system operable to store a plurality of data chunks;
• a processor operable to identify a reference data chunk based on fingerprint information associated with a data chunk requested by a target storage node, the reference data chunk being stored on the target storage node, the reference data chunk and the requested data chunk each including a first data portion;
• and
• a communications interface operable to transmit data chunk reconstruction information to the target data storage node, the data chunk reconstruction information identifying the reference data chunk, the data chunk reconstruction information including data difference information for constructing the requested data chunk at the target data storage node based on the reference data chunk.

One or more computer readable media having instructions stored thereon for performing a method, the method comprising:

• receiving, at a source data storage node, a request to provide a data chunk to a target storage node;
• identifying a reference data chunk based on fingerprint information associated with the requested data chunk, the reference data chunk being stored on the target storage node, the reference data chunk and the requested data chunk each including a first data portion;
• and
• transmitting data chunk reconstruction information from the source data storage node to the target data storage node, the data chunk reconstruction information identifying the reference data chunk, the data chunk reconstruction information including data difference information for constructing the requested data chunk at the target data storage node based on the reference data chunk.