Selecting a set of storage units in a distributed storage network

1. A method for execution by a computing device that includes a processor, the method comprises:

identifying a distributed storage network (DSN) identifier for data to be accessed within a DSN;

identifying a plurality of storage cohorts associated with the data to be accessed;

issuing a ranked scoring information request that includes the DSN identifier for the data and identifiers of the plurality of storage cohorts;

obtaining ranked scoring information for each storage cohort of the plurality of storage cohorts with regards to the data to be accessed, wherein the ranked scoring information is obtained based on the ranked scoring information request;

selecting exactly one selected storage cohort of the plurality of storage cohorts based on the ranked scoring information;

issuing a plurality of slice access requests to a set of storage units of the exactly one selected storage cohort for the data to be accessed; and

processing a plurality of received slice access responses from multiple ones of the set of storage units of the exactly one selected storage cohort.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the data to be accessed was distributed storage error encoded to produce a set of encoded data slices for storage in the plurality of storage cohorts prior to issuing the slice access requests to the set of storage units of the exactly one selected storage cohort for the data to be accessed, and wherein the received slice access responses include at least one encoded data slice of the set of encoded data slices.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein identifying the plurality of storage cohorts associated with the data to be accessed includes interpreting system registry information based on a storage generation associated with the DSN identifier for the data.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein obtaining the ranked scoring information includes performing a distributed agreement protocol function for a DSN address range utilizing a location weight of the each storage cohort to produce a score for the each storage cohort to be ranked in the ranked scoring information.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the exactly one selected storage cohort is associated with a highest score of the ranked scoring information.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein issuing the slice access requests includes generating and sending the slice access requests to the set of storage units of the exactly one selected storage cohort.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the slice access requests are read slice requests, and wherein processing the received slice access responses includes distributed storage error decoding received encoded data slices of the received slice access responses to reproduce the data.

8. A processing system of a computing device comprises:

at least one processor;

a memory that stores operational instructions, that when executed by the at least one processor cause the processing system to:

identify a distributed storage network (DSN) identifier for data to be accessed within a DSN;

identify a plurality of storage cohorts associated with the data to be accessed;

issue a ranked scoring information request that includes the DSN identifier for the data and identifiers of the plurality of storage cohorts;

obtain ranked scoring information for each storage cohort of the plurality of storage cohorts with regards to the data to be accessed, wherein the ranked scoring information is obtained based on the ranked scoring information request;

select exactly one selected storage cohort of the plurality of storage cohorts based on the ranked scoring information;

issue slice access requests to a set of storage units of the exactly one selected storage cohort for the data to be accessed; and

process received slice access responses from multiple ones of the set of storage units of the exactly one selected storage cohort.

9. The processing system of claim 8 , wherein the data to be accessed was distributed storage error encoded to produce a set of encoded data slices for storage in the plurality of storage cohorts prior to issuing the slice access requests to the set of storage units of the exactly one selected storage cohort for the data to be accessed, and wherein the received slice access responses include at least one encoded data slice of the set of encoded data slices.

10. The processing system of claim 8 , wherein identifying the plurality of storage cohorts associated with the data to be accessed includes interpreting system registry information based on a storage generation associated with the DSN identifier for the data.

11. The processing system of claim 8 , wherein obtaining the ranked scoring information includes performing a distributed agreement protocol function for a DSN address range utilizing a location weight of the each storage cohort to produce a score for the each storage cohort to be ranked in the ranked scoring information.

12. The processing system of claim 8 , wherein the exactly one selected storage cohort is associated with a highest score of the ranked scoring information.

13. The processing system of claim 8 , wherein issuing the slice access requests includes generating and sending the slice access requests to the set of storage units of the exactly one selected storage cohort.

14. The processing system of claim 8 , wherein the slice access requests are read slice requests, and wherein processing the received slice access responses includes distributed storage error decoding received encoded data slices of the received slice access responses to reproduce the data.

15. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium comprises:

at least one memory section that stores operational instructions that, when executed by a processing system of a distributed storage network (DSN) that includes a processor and a memory, causes the processing system to:

identify a DSN identifier for data to be accessed within a DSN;

identify a plurality of storage cohorts associated with the data to be accessed;

issue a ranked scoring information request that includes the DSN identifier for the data and identifiers of the plurality of storage cohorts;

obtain ranked scoring information for each storage cohort of the plurality of storage cohorts with regards to the data to be accessed, wherein the ranked scoring information is obtained based on the ranked scoring information request;

select exactly one selected storage cohort of the plurality of storage cohorts based on the ranked scoring information;

issue slice access requests to a set of storage units of the exactly one selected storage cohort for the data to be accessed; and

process received slice access responses from multiple ones of the set of storage units of the exactly one selected storage cohort.

16. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 15 , wherein the data to be accessed was distributed storage error encoded to produce a set of encoded data slices for storage in the plurality of storage cohorts prior to issuing the slice access requests to the set of storage units of the exactly one selected storage cohort for the data to be accessed, and wherein the received slice access responses include at least one encoded data slice of the set of encoded data slices.

17. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 15 , wherein obtaining the ranked scoring information includes performing a distributed agreement protocol function for a DSN address range utilizing a location weight of the each storage cohort to produce a score for the each storage cohort to be ranked in the ranked scoring information.

18. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 15 , wherein the exactly one selected storage cohort is associated with a highest score of the ranked scoring information.