Speculative Requests

1 . A method for use in a first processing device configured to implement a distributed storage (DS) unit included in a distributed storage network (DSN), the method comprising:

receiving, at the DS unit, a plurality of speculative requests from a second processing device included in the DSN, wherein each of the plurality of speculative requests includes a request for a same action to be performed by the DS unit;

processing, by the DS unit, a first speculative request of the plurality of speculative requests from the second processing device, wherein the processing includes acting on the request for the same action; and

ignoring, by the DS unit, redundant speculative requests of the plurality of speculative requests from the second processing device.

2 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

receiving at least two of the speculative requests via different network paths coupling the second processing device to the DS unit.

3 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

identifying speculative requests by determining, at the DS unit, that each of the plurality of speculative requests includes a common identifier.

4 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

identifying speculative requests by determining, at the DS unit, that each of the plurality of speculative requests includes a speculative request indicator.

5 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

maintaining, by the DS unit, a record identifying speculative requests processed by the DS unit during an exclusion time frame.

6 . The method of claim 5 , further comprising:

activating the exclusion time frame; and

ignoring the redundant speculative requests only during the exclusion time frame.

7 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the processing includes:

transmitting, by the DS unit, an access response to the second processing device.

8 . A distributed storage (DS) unit for use in a distributed storage network (DSN), the DS unit comprising:

at least one communications interface configured to receive a plurality of speculative requests from requesting computing device included in the DSN, wherein each of the plurality of speculative requests includes a request for a same action to be performed by the DS unit;

a computing core including a processor and associated memory, the computing core configured to:

process a first speculative request of the plurality of speculative requests, wherein processing the first speculative request includes acting on the first speculative request; and

ignore redundant speculative requests of the plurality of speculative requests.

9 . The DS unit of claim 8 , further comprising a plurality of communications interfaces coupling the requesting computing device to the DS unit, wherein:

a first communications interface is configured to receive a first speculative request via a first network path; and

a second communications interface is configured to receive a redundant speculative request via a second network path.

10 . The DS unit of claim 8 , the computing core further configured to:

identify speculative requests by determining that each of the plurality of speculative requests includes a common identifier.

11 . The DS unit of claim 8 , the computing core further configured to:

identify speculative requests by determining that each of the plurality of speculative requests includes a speculative request indicator.

12 . The DS unit of claim 8 , the computing core further configured to:

maintain a record identifying speculative requests processed by the DS unit during an exclusion time frame.

13 . The DS unit of claim 12 , the computing core further configured to:

activate the exclusion time frame; and

ignore the redundant speculative requests only during the exclusion time frame.

14 . The DS unit of claim 8 , the computing core further configured to:

transmit an access response to the requesting computing device via the at least one communications interface.

15 . A distributed storage network (DSN) comprising:

at least one distributed storage (DS) unit;

a DS processing module coupled to the at least one DS unit via a plurality of network paths, the DS processing module configured to transmit a plurality of speculative data access requests to the at least one DS unit, wherein each of the plurality of speculative data access requests includes a request for a same action to be performed by the DS unit;

the DS unit including:

at least one communications interface configured to receive the plurality of speculative data access requests from the DS processing module;

a computing core including a processor and associated memory, the computing core configured to:

process a first speculative data access request, wherein processing the first speculative data access request includes attempting to perform the first speculative data access request; and

ignore redundant speculative data access requests.

16 . The distributed storage network (DSN) of claim 15 , the DS unit further comprising a plurality of communications interfaces coupling the DS processing module to the DS unit, wherein:

a first communications interface of the DS unit is configured to receive a first speculative data access request via a first network path; and

a second communications interface is configured to receive a redundant speculative data access request via a second network path.

17 . The distributed storage network (DSN) of claim 15 , the computing core further configured to:

identify speculative data access requests by determining that each of the plurality of speculative data access requests includes a common identifier.

18 . The distributed storage network (DSN) of claim 15 , the computing core of the DS unit further configured to:

identify speculative data access requests by determining that each of the plurality of speculative data access requests includes a speculative request indicator.

19 . The distributed storage network (DSN) of claim 15 , the computing core of the DS unit further configured to:

maintain a record identifying speculative data access requests processed by the DS unit during an exclusion time frame.

20 . The distributed storage network (DSN) of claim 19 , the computing core of the DS unit further configured to:

activate the exclusion time frame in response to processing the first speculative data access request; and

ignore the redundant speculative data access requests only during the exclusion time frame.