Systems, methods, and apparatus for matching a connection request with a network interface adapted for use with a dispersed data storage network

1. A computer comprising:

a network port operable to couple to a network;

memory for storing at least a portion of a gateway program; and

a central processing unit operable to execute the gateway program by:

receiving a data access message via the network port;

determining a client side data access protocol by:

identifying a user account associated with the data access message;

querying a registry for gateway configuration information corresponding to the user account; and

interpreting the gateway configuration information to determine the client slice data access protocol;

enabling a gateway module to translate protocol of the data access message between the client side data access protocol and a dispersed data storage network (DDSN) data access protocol to produce a translated data access message; and

facilitating conveyance of the translated data access message between a client computer and a plurality of slice servers.

2. The computer of claim 1 wherein the client side data access protocol comprises one or more of a block access protocol, a file access protocol, a simple object access protocol, and a named object access protocol.

3. The computer of claim 1 wherein the gateway modules is further associated with one or more virtual DDSN vaults.

4. A method for execution by a computer, the method comprises:

receiving a data access message via a network port;

determining a client side data access protocol by:

identifying a user account associated with the data access message;

querying a registry for gateway configuration information corresponding to the user account; and

interpreting the gateway configuration information to determine the client slice data access protocol;

enabling a gateway module to translate protocol of the data access message between the client side data access protocol and a dispersed data storage network (DDSN) data access protocol to produce a translated data access message; and

facilitating conveyance of the translated data access message between a client computer and a plurality of slice servers.

5. The method of claim 4 wherein the client side data access protocol comprises one or more of a block access protocol, a file access protocol, a simple object access protocol, and a named object access protocol.

6. The method of claim 4 wherein the gateway modules is further associated with one or more virtual DDSN vaults.

7. The method of claim 4 , wherein the determining the client side data access protocol comprises at least one of:

identifying the user account associated, querying the registry for the gateway configuration information, and interpreting the gateway configuration information; and

interpreting a field within the data access message to identify the client side data access protocol.

8. The method of claim 4 , wherein the executing the gateway program further comprises:

receiving a plurality of data access messages via a network port, wherein the plurality of data access messages includes the data access message;

determining a corresponding client side data access protocol for each of the plurality of data access messages to produce a plurality of client side data protocols;

enabling a plurality of gateway modules, wherein each of the plurality of gateway modules translates protocol for one of the plurality of data access messages between a corresponding one of the plurality of client side data access protocols and the DDSN data access protocol to produce a plurality of translated data access messages; and

facilitating conveyance of the plurality of translated data access messages between at least one client computer and the plurality of slice servers.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the network port comprises:

a plurality of ports for receiving the plurality of data access messages.

10. The computer of claim 1 , wherein the central processing unit determines the client side data access protocol by at least one of:

identifying the user account associated, querying the registry for the gateway configuration information, and interpreting the gateway configuration information; and

interpreting a field within the data access message to identify the client side data access protocol.

11. The computer of claim 1 , wherein the central processing unit is further operable to execute the gateway program by:

receiving a plurality of data access messages via the network port, wherein the plurality of data access messages includes the data access message;

determining a corresponding client side data access protocol for each of the plurality of data access messages to produce a plurality of client side data protocols;

enabling a plurality of gateway modules, wherein each of the plurality of gateway modules translates protocol for one of the plurality of data access messages between a corresponding one of the plurality of client side data access protocols and the DDSN data access protocol to produce a plurality of translated data access messages; and

facilitating conveyance of the plurality of translated data access messages between at least one client computer and the plurality of slice servers.

12. The computer of claim 1 , wherein the network port comprises:

a plurality of ports for receiving the plurality of data access messages.

13. A computer comprises:

a network port operable to couple to a network; and

a central processing unit operable to:

receive a memory access request that is formatted in accordance with a data access protocol;

determine the data access protocol by:

identifying a user account associated with the memory access request;

querying a registry for gateway configuration information from the registry for the user account; and

interpreting the gateway configuration information to determine the data access protocol;

evoke a data access protocol translation function to convert the memory access request from the data access protocol into a dispersed data storage network (DDSN) memory access request formatted in accordance with a DDSN data access protocol; and

output the DSN memory access request to a plurality of slice servers.

14. The computer of claim 13 , wherein the data access protocol comprises one or more of a block access protocol, a file access protocol, a simple object access protocol, and a named object access protocol.

15. The computer of claim 13 , wherein the central processing unit determines the client side data access protocol by at least one of:

identifying the user account associated, querying the registry for the gateway configuration information, and interpreting the gateway configuration information; and

interpreting a field within the memory access request to identify the data access protocol.

16. The computer of claim 13 , wherein the central processing unit is further operable to:

receive a plurality of memory access requests that includes the memory access request, wherein each of the plurality of memory access requests is formatted in accordance with a corresponding one of a plurality of data access protocols;

evoke a plurality of data access protocol translation functions to convert the plurality of memory access requests from the corresponding ones of the plurality of data access protocols into a plurality of DDSN memory access requests that is formatted in accordance with the DDSN data access protocol; and

output the plurality of DSN memory access requests to the plurality of slice servers.

17. The computer of claim 16 , wherein the network port comprises:

a plurality of ports for receiving the plurality of memory access requests.