Storage of Data and Metadata in a Storage Network

A computing device comprising:

• at least one interface;
• memory that stores operational instructions;
• and
• one or more processing modules operably coupled to the at least one interface and the memory, wherein the one or more processing modules are configured to execute the operational instructions to:
• establish a vault as a virtual memory block that maps to memory of a storage network;
• receive, via the at least one interface, data for storage in the vault;
• select a first vault parameter set regarding distributed storage of the data;
• encode at least a portion of the data in accordance with the first vault parameter set to produce a set of encoded slices;
• obtain metadata regarding the set of encoded slices;
• select a second vault parameter set regarding distributed storage of the metadata;
• encode the metadata in accordance with the second vault parameter set to produce metadata encoded slices;
• and
• facilitate, via the at least one interface, storage of the set of encoded slices and the metadata encoded slices in the vault.

A computer readable storage medium comprises:

• at least one memory section that stores operational instructions that, when executed by one or more processing modules of a computing device of a storage network, causes the computing device to:
• establish a vault as a virtual memory block that maps to memory of a storage network;
• receive data for storage in the vault;
• select a first vault parameter set regarding distributed storage of the data;
• encode at least a portion of the data in accordance with the first vault parameter set to produce a set of encoded slices;
• obtain metadata regarding the set of encoded slices;
• select a second vault parameter set regarding distributed storage of the metadata;
• encode the metadata in accordance with the second vault parameter set to produce metadata encoded slices;
• and
• facilitate storage of the set of encoded slices and the metadata encoded slices in the vault.