Storage device for use in a shared community storage network

A method of joining a storage device to a network-accessible storage service comprised of a plurality of unaffiliated and un-trusted storage nodes, the method comprising:

• connecting a storage device to a wide area network (WAN), the storage device including a storage medium for electronically storing data;
• transmitting a registration request across the WAN to a storage service management node, the registration request offering to make at least a portion of the storage medium in the storage device with accessible to a network-accessible storage service comprised of a plurality of unaffiliated and un-trusted storage nodes under terms that do not require any level of guaranteed service from the storage device to maintain the accessibility of at least a portion of the storage medium to the network-accessible storage service when the storage device is connected to the WAN;
• receiving a confirmation from the storage service management node in response to the offer to make at least a portion of the storage medium accessible being accepted by the storage service management node;
• after receiving the confirmation from the storage service management node, receiving data across the WAN from a client device that utilizes the network-accessible storage service and wherein the network-accessible storage service increases the number of unaffiliated and un-trusted storage nodes at which a fragment of a data object is stored to account for increases in the number of unreliable storage nodes associated with the network-accessible storage service and decrease the probability that all of the storage nodes storing the fragment of the data object are compromised;
• and
• storing the received data in the storage medium, the received data being encrypted prior to receipt so that the received data is not readily accessible to a host of the storage device.

A storage device including a storage medium for electronically storing data and storing instructions for performing operations comprising:

• connecting to a wide area network (WAN);
• transmitting a registration request across the WAN to a storage service management node, the registration request offering to make at least a portion of the storage medium in the storage device accessible to a network-accessible storage service comprised of a plurality of unaffiliated and un-trusted storage nodes under terms that do not require any level of guaranteed service to maintain the accessibility of at least a portion of the storage medium to the network-accessible storage service when the storage device is connected to the WAN;
• receiving a confirmation from the storage service management node in response to the offer to make at least a portion of the storage medium accessible being accepted by the storage service management node;
• after receiving the confirmation from the storage service management node, receiving data across the WAN from a client device that utilizes the network-accessible storage service and wherein the network-accessible storage service increases the number of unaffiliated and un-trusted storage nodes at which a data object is stored to account for increases in the number of unreliable storage nodes associated with the network-accessible storage service and decrease the probability that all of the storage nodes storing the data object are compromised, wherein the probability that all of the storage nodes storing the data object are compromised is calculated according to,
• (
• m
• N
• )
• r
• ,
• where N is the total number of storage nodes associated with the network-accessible storage service, m is the number of unavailable or corrupt nodes associated with the network-accessible storage service, and r is the number of storage nodes at which the data object has been stored;
• and
• storing the received data in the storage medium, the received data being encrypted prior to receipt so that the received data is not readily accessible to a host of the storage device.