EXPANDING TO MULTIPLE SITES IN A DISTRIBUTED STORAGE SYSTEM

1 . A method for execution by one or more processing modules of one or more computing devices of a dispersed storage network (DSN), the method comprises:

determining, by a processing module of a distributed storage and task (DST) client module, to reposition DST execution units of a distributed storage and task network (DSTN) module storage pool located at a current number of sites to an updated number of sites;

determining, by the processing module, that the updated number of sites is greater than the current number of sites;

identifying, by the processing module, a first site and a second site of an adjacent site pair for a new site insertion;

facilitating, by the processing module, repositioning one or more DST execution units from the first site to the new site;

facilitating, by the processing module, repositioning one or more DST execution units from the second site to the new site; and

facilitating, by the processing module, repositioning one or more DST execution units from one or more other sites that are further adjacent to the adjacent site pair.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the determining to reposition DST execution units is based on one or more of: receiving a request, receiving a message, detecting a current site failure, detecting a newly commissioned site, receiving an updated DSTN topology, or determining the updated number of sites.

3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the determining the updated number of sites is based on at least one of: a request, an updated reliability requirement, a measured reliability level, an updated performance requirement, or a measured performance level.

4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the identifying is based on at least one of: selecting the adjacent site pair at an end of a plurality of sites, selecting the adjacent site pair when the adjacent site pair indicates a favorably low level of system activity, receiving a selection, a predetermination, or a lookup.

5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the facilitating repositioning one or more DST execution units from the first site to a new site includes one or more of: determining a target number of DST execution units per site including the new site, establishing a new site address range, selecting the one or more DST execution units to move that have an adjacent address range to the new site address range, indicating which DST execution units to move, or updating site address range tables when confirmation of moving the DST execution units has been received.

6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the facilitating repositioning one or more DST execution units from the second site to the new site includes one or more of: selecting the one or more DST execution units to move that have an adjacent address range to a new site address range, indicating which DST execution units to move, or updating site address range tables when confirmation of moving the DST execution units has been received.

7 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the facilitating repositioning one or more DST execution units from one or more other sites that are further adjacent to the adjacent site pair includes one or more of: selecting the one or more DST execution units to move that have an adjacent address range to an address range of at least one of the adjacent site pair, indicating which DST execution units to move, or updating site address range tables when confirmation of moving the DST execution units has been received.

8 . A computing device of a group of computing devices of a dispersed storage network (DSN), the computing device comprises:

an interface;

a local memory; and

a processing module operably coupled to the interface and the local memory, wherein the processing module functions to:

determine to reposition distributed storage and task (DST) execution units of a distributed storage and task network (DSTN) module storage pool located at a current number of sites to an updated number of sites;

determining whether the updated number of sites is greater than the current number of sites;

when the processing module determines that the updated number of sites is greater than the current number of sites, identifying a first site and a second site of an adjacent site pair for a new site insertion when the updated number of sites is greater than the current number of sites;

facilitating repositioning one or more DST execution units from the first site to a new site; facilitating, by the processing module, repositioning one or more DST execution units from the second site to the new site; and

facilitating repositioning one or more DST execution units from one or more other sites that are further adjacent to the adjacent site pair.

9 . The computing device of claim 8 , further comprises, when the processing module determines that the updated number of sites is not greater than the current number of sites:

identifying a site to reposition all DST execution units to one or more other adjacent sites;

identifying a first site and a second site of an adjacent site pair to reposition the DST execution units;

facilitating repositioning one or more of the DST execution units to the first site; facilitating repositioning one or more of the DST execution units to the second site; and

facilitating repositioning one or more DST execution units from the adjacent site pair to one or more other sites that are further adjacent to the adjacent site pair.

10 . The computing device of claim 9 , wherein the updated number of sites includes a site to be eliminated.

11 . The computing device of claim 9 , wherein the identifying is based on at least one of: selecting the adjacent site pair at an end of a plurality of sites, selecting the adjacent site pair when the adjacent site pair indicates a favorably low level of system activity, receiving a selection, a predetermination, or a lookup.

12 . The computing device of claim 9 , wherein the facilitating repositioning one or more DST execution units from the first site to a new site includes one or more of: determining a target number of DST execution units per site including the new site, establishing a new site address range, selecting the one or more DST execution units to move that have an adjacent address range to the new site address range, indicating which DST execution units to move, or updating site address range tables when confirmation of moving the DST execution units has been received.

13 . The computing device of claim 9 , wherein the facilitating repositioning one or more DST execution units from the second site to the new site includes one or more of: selecting the one or more DST execution units to move that have an adjacent address range to a new site address range, indicating which DST execution units to move, or updating site address range tables when confirmation of moving the DST execution units has been received.

14 . The computing device of claim 9 , wherein the facilitating repositioning one or more DST execution units from one or more other sites that are further adjacent to the adjacent site pair includes one or more of: selecting the one or more DST execution units to move that have an adjacent address range to an address range of at least one of the adjacent site pair, indicating which DST execution units to move, or updating site address range tables when confirmation of moving the DST execution units has been received.

15 . A method of migrating distributed storage and task (DST) execution units, the method comprises:

determining, by a processing module of a distributed storage and task (DST) client module, to reposition DST execution units of the distributed storage and task network (DSTN) module storage pool located at a current number of sites to an updated number of sites;

determining, by the processing module, that the updated number of sites is not greater than the current number of sites;

identifying, by the processing module, a site to reposition all DST execution units to one or more other adjacent sites;

identifying, by the processing module, a first site and a second site of an adjacent site pair to reposition the DST execution units;

facilitating, by the processing module, repositioning one or more of the DST execution units to the first site; facilitating repositioning one or more of the DST execution units to the second site; and

facilitating, by the processing module, repositioning one or more DST execution units from the adjacent site pair to one or more other sites that are further adjacent to the adjacent site pair.

16 . The method of claim 15 , wherein the updated number of sites includes a site to be eliminated.

17 . The method of claim 16 , wherein the facilitating repositioning one or more of the DST execution units to the second site includes one or more of: obtaining site address range information and determining redistribution of an address range associated with the site to be eliminated, selecting the one or more DST execution units to move that have an adjacent address range to a second site address range, indicating which DST execution units to move, or updating site address range tables when confirmation of moving the DST execution units has been received.

18 . The method of claim 16 , wherein the facilitating repositioning one or more of the DST execution units to the first site includes one or more of: determining a target number of DST execution units per site excluding the site to be eliminated, obtaining site address range information and determining redistribution of an address range associated with the site to be eliminated, selecting the one or more DST execution units to move that have an adjacent address range to a first site address range, indicating which DST execution units to move, or updating site address range tables when confirmation of moving the DST execution units has been received.

19 . The method of claim 15 , wherein the identifying a first site and a second site of an adjacent site pair to reposition the DST execution units, includes identifying DST execution units with an adjacent address range.

20 . The method of claim 15 , wherein the facilitating repositioning one or more DST execution units from the adjacent site pair to one or more other sites that are further adjacent to the adjacent site pair includes one or more of: selecting the one more DST execution units to move that have an adjacent address range to further adjacent site address ranges in accordance with a target number of units per site, indicating which DST execution units to move, or updating site address range tables when confirmation of moving the DST execution units has been received.