B-file abstraction for efficiently archiving self-expiring data

A method comprising:

• receiving data items for storage on a solid state storage device having multiple storage blocks;
• determining different levels for the data items, wherein the levels of the data items are determined by one or more attributes of the data items to establish an expiration intensity;
• assigning the data items to different storage buckets of a bucket file based on the levels;
• appending the data items within the different storage buckets on the solid state storage device such that individual storage buckets of data items are clustered together in corresponding blocks of the solid state storage device;
• and
• periodically deleting storage blocks from the solid state storage device via one or more erase operations while at least some other storage blocks remain stored on the solid state storage device, wherein the one or more deleted storage blocks are determined by the expiration intensity of corresponding data items stored in the one or more deleted storage blocks.

A system comprising:

• a solid state storage device having multiple storage blocks;
• and
• a control device configured to:
• obtain data items for storage on the solid state storage device, the data items having associated attributes;
• establish different expiration intensities for the data items using the associated attributes of the data items;
• assign the data items to different storage buckets of a bucket file based on the different expiration intensities;
• append the data items within the different storage buckets on the solid state storage device such that individual storage buckets of data items are clustered together in corresponding blocks of the solid state storage device;
• repeatedly designate individual storage blocks for deletion from the solid state storage device based on the different expiration intensities that are established using the associated attributes of the data items;
• and
• cause the individual storage blocks designated for deletion to be deleted from the solid state storage device via one or more block erase operations while at least some other storage blocks remain stored on the solid state storage device.

A system comprising:

• a solid state storage device having multiple storage blocks;
• a hardware processing unit;
• and
• a memory device storing computer-readable instructions that cause the hardware processing unit to:
• obtain data items for storage on the solid state storage device, the data items having associated attributes;
• establish different expiration intensities for the data items using the associated attributes of the data items;
• assign the data items to different storage buckets based on the different expiration intensities;
• append the data items within the different storage buckets on the solid state storage device such that individual storage buckets of data items are clustered together in corresponding blocks of the solid state storage device;
• repeatedly designate particular storage buckets for deletion from the solid state storage device, the particular storage buckets being designated based on the expiration intensities that are established using the associated attributes of the data items;
• and
• repeatedly cause individual storage blocks of the particular storage buckets designated for deletion to be deleted together from the solid state storage device via one or more block erase operations while at least some other storage blocks of other storage buckets remain stored on the solid state storage device.