System and method for reclaiming unused space from a thinly provisioned data container

A computer data storage system, comprising:

• a processor of the computer data storage system configured to execute a storage operating system to store data associated with a client computer on a data container of a storage device;
• a client-side agent executing on the client computer configured to locate, by examining metadata of the client computer, one or more sets of blocks allocated in the data container of the computer data storage system, wherein the client-side agent is further configured to:
• allocate a file on a client computer file system overlaid onto the data container;
• lock the allocated file;
• identify blocks storing the allocated file on the computer data storage system;
• and
• identify, as the one or more sets of deleted blocks within the computer data storage system, the identified blocks storing the allocated file;
• the client-side agent further configured to send a command to the computer data storage system to identify the allocated blocks within the computer data storage system;
• and
• the computer data storage system configured to deallocate, in response to receiving the command, the identified blocks in the data container of the computer data storage system.

A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium containing executable program instructions for execution by a processor, comprising:

• program instructions that maintain a client computer interacting with a storage system, the client computer storing data on a data container on a storage device of the storage system;
• program instructions that locate, by a client-side agent executing on the client computer that examines metadata of the client computer, one or more sets of blocks allocated in the client computer on the data container of the storage system;
• program instructions that allocate a file on a client computer file system overlaid onto the data container;
• program instructions that lock the allocated file;
• program instructions that identify blocks storing the allocated file on the computer data storage system;
• and
• program instructions that identify, as the one or more sets of deleted blocks within the storage system, the identified blocks storing the allocated file;
• program instructions that send a command from the client computer identifying the allocated blocks within the storage system;
• and
• program instructions that deallocate, in response to receiving the command, the identified blocks within the storage system.