Time based dispersed storage access

1. A method comprises:

establishing, by a managing unit of a dispersed storage network (DSN), an access policy that designates, for a first group of user devices, a first read time window for reading data from storage units of the DSN, a first write time window for writing data to the storage units of the DSN, and a read-write time window, wherein the read-write time window allows for reading of data from the storage units and writing of data to the storage units, wherein the read-write time window at least partially overlaps, in time, one or more of the first read time window and the first write time window;

making available, by the managing unit, the access policy to the first group of user devices and to the storage units;

receiving, by a storage unit of the storage units, an access request from a user device of the first group of user devices;

determining, by the storage unit, whether the access request is received within the first read time window or the read-write time window when the access request is a read request or whether the access request is received within the first write time window or the read-write time window when the access request is a write request;

when the access request is the read request and is received within the first read time window or the read-write time window, generating, by the storage unit, a read response that includes one or more requested encoded data slices; and

when the access request is the write request and is received within the first write time window or the read-write time window, processing, by the storage unit, the write request to store one or more new encoded data slices.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein establishing the access policy further comprises:

designating, for a second group of user devices, a second read time window for reading data from the storage units of the DSN and a second write time window for writing data to the storage units of the DSN.

3. The method of claim 2 further comprises:

the first group of user devices is affiliated with a first vault that is supported by at least some of the storage units; and

the second group of user devices is affiliated with a second vault that is supported by another at least some of the storage units.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein establishing the access policy further comprises:

establishing the first read time window and the first write time window to be non-overlapping in time; and

establishing the read-write time window for the first group of user devices, wherein the read-write time window does not overlap, in time, the first read time window or the first write time window.

5. The method of claim 1 further comprises:

adjusting at least one of the first read time window and the first write time window such that, in time, the adjusted at least one of the first read time window and the first write time window partially overlap.

6. The method of claim 1 further comprises:

updating the access policy based on a current level of utilization of the storage units.

7. The method of claim 1 further comprises:

updating the access policy to render a particular data object unavailable to the first group of user devices.

8. A computer readable memory device comprises:

a first memory section that stores operational instructions that, when executed by a managing computing device, causes the managing computing device to:

establish, an access policy that designates, for a first group of user devices, a first read time window for reading data from storage units of a dispersed storage network (DSN), a first write time window for writing data to the storage units of the DSN, and a read-write time window, wherein the read-write time window allows for reading of data from the storage units and writing of data to the storage units, wherein the read-write time window at least partially overlaps, in time, one or more of the first read time window and the first write time window; and

make the access policy available to the first group of user devices and to the storage units;

a second memory section that stores operational instructions that, when executed by a storage unit of the storage units, causes the storage unit to:

receive an access request from a user device of the first group of user devices;

determine whether the access request is received within the first read time window or the read-write time window, when the access request is a read request or whether the access request is received within the first write time window or the read-write time window, when the access request is a write request;

when the access request is the read request and is received within the first read time window or the read-write time window, generate a read response that includes one or more requested encoded data slices; and

when the access request is the write request and is received within the first write time window or the read-write time window, process the write request to store one or more new encoded data slices.

9. The computer readable memory device of claim 8 , wherein the first memory section further stores operational instructions that, when executed by the managing computing device, causes the managing computing device to establish the access policy by:

designating, for a second group of user devices, a second read time window for reading data from the storage units of the DSN and a second write time window for writing data to the storage units of the DSN.

10. The computer readable memory device of claim 8 further comprises:

the first group of user devices is affiliated with a first vault that is supported by at least some of the storage units; and

the second group of user devices is affiliated with a second vault that is supported by another at least some of the storage units.

11. The computer readable memory device of claim 8 , wherein the first memory section further stores operational instructions that, when executed by the managing computing device, causes the managing computing device to establish the access policy by:

establishing the first read time window and the first write time window to be non-overlapping in time; and

establishing the read-write time window for the first group of user devices, wherein the read-write time window does not overlap, in time, the first read time window or the first write time window.

12. The computer readable memory device of claim 8 , wherein the first memory section further stores operational instructions that, when executed by the managing computing device, causes the managing computing device to:

adjust at least one of the first read time window and the first write time window such that, in time, the adjusted at least one of the first read time window and the first write time window partially overlap.

13. The computer readable memory device of claim 8 , wherein the first memory section further stores operational instructions that, when executed by the managing computing device, causes the managing computing device to:

update the access policy based on a current level of utilization of the storage units.

14. The computer readable memory device of claim 8 , wherein the first memory section further stores operational instructions that, when executed by the managing computing device, causes the managing computing device to:

update the access policy to render a particular data object unavailable to the first group of user devices.