Selecting Storage Targets in a Distributed Storage System

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

receiving a request to store a data object in the storage network, wherein the storage network includes a plurality of storage units;

determining preferred storage requirements for storing the data object;

determining minimum storage requirements for storing the data object;

determining a first set of operational parameters for storing the data object;

identifying a first set of storage units of the plurality of storage units for storing the data object;

determining storage metrics for the first set of storage units;

determining whether the storage metrics for the first set of storage units compare favorably to the preferred storage requirements;

in response to a determination that the storage metrics for the first set of storage units do not compare favorably to the preferred storage requirements, determining a second set of operational parameters and a second set of storage units of the plurality of storage units for storing the data object;

determining whether the storage metrics for the second set of storage units compare favorably to the minimum storage requirements;

in response to a determination that the storage metrics for the second set of storage units compare favorably to the minimum storage requirements, segmenting the data object into a plurality data segments, dispersed error encoding a segment of the plurality data segments to produce a set of encoded data slices, wherein a decode threshold number of encoded data slices are needed to recover the data segment; and

distributedly storing the set of encoded data slices among the second set of storage units.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the first set of operational parameters comprise at least one of:

an error coding algorithm;

a number of slices per segment for a vault;

a read threshold T;

a write threshold;

an encryption algorithm;

a slicing parameter;

a compression algorithm;

an integrity check method;

caching settings; and

parallelism settings.

3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the identifying a first set of storage units of the plurality of storage units for storing the data object comprises:

accessing a directory to identify storage units associated with the storage network.

4 . The method of claim 3 further comprises:

updating the directory to include an identity of each storage unit of the first set of storage units and an identity of the set of encoded data slices.

5 . The method of claim 4 , wherein the updating the directory comprises:

creating a file name associated with the set of encoded data slices;

linking the file name to one or more intermediate file directory folders;

linking the one or more intermediate file directory folders to a root directory folder;

linking the file name to slice names of the set of encoded data slices; and

linking the slice names to storage unit identifiers of the first set of storage units.

6 . The method of claim 5 further comprises:

creating at least one intermediate file directory folder.

7 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

receiving historical metadata for at least some of the plurality of storage units, wherein the historical metadata includes at least one of,

a history of uptime;

a storage bandwidth;

a retrieval bandwidth;

a storage latency;

a retrieval latency;

a memory capacity;

an available memory;

a storage cost;

a rebuild time;

a location; and

one or more security factors.

8 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

determining a desired dispersed error coding performance level for the first set of storage units, wherein the desired dispersed error coding performance level comprises at least one of:

an indication of dispersed error coding storage requirements;

an indication of historical dispersed error coding storage performance;

an indication of available storage;

an indication of processing capabilities;

an indication of latency performance; and

an indication of bandwidth performance.

9 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the data object comprises at least one of:

a user identification field;

an object name field; and

a data field.

10 . The method of claim 1 , further comprises receiving at least one of:

a process identifier;

metadata;

a file system directory;

a block number;

a transaction message;

a user device identity;

a data object identifier;

a source name;

and user information.

11 . A storage processing unit of a storage network, the storage processing unit 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:

receive a request to store a data object in the storage unit, wherein the storage unit includes a plurality of storage units;

determine preferred storage requirements for storing the data object;

determine minimum storage requirements for storing the data object;

determine a first set of operational parameters for storing the data object;

identify a first set of storage units of the plurality of storage units for storing the data object;

determine storage metrics for the first set of storage units;

determine whether the storage metrics for the first set of storage units compare favorably to the preferred storage requirements;

in response to a determination that the storage metrics for the first set of storage units do not compare favorably to the preferred storage requirements, determine a second set of operational parameters and a second set of storage units of the plurality of storage units for storing the data object;

determine whether the storage metrics for the second set of storage units compare favorably to the minimum storage requirements;

in response to a determination that the storage metrics for the second set of storage units compare favorably to the minimum storage requirements, segment the data object into a plurality data segments, dispersed error encoding a segment of the plurality data segments to produce a set of encoded data slices, wherein a decode threshold number of encoded data slices are needed to recover the data segment; and

distributedly store the set of encoded data slices among the second set of storage units.

12 . The storage processing unit of claim 11 , wherein the operational parameters comprise at least one of:

an error coding algorithm;

a number of slices per segment for a vault;

a read threshold T;

a write threshold;

an encryption algorithm;

a slicing parameter;

a compression algorithm;

an integrity check method;

caching settings; and

parallelism settings.

13 . The storage processing unit of claim 11 , wherein the first set of storage units of the plurality of storage units for storing the data object are identified by accessing a directory to identify storage units associated with the storage network.

14 . The storage processing unit of claim 13 , wherein the processing module further functions to:

update the directory to include an identity of each storage unit of the first set of storage units and an identity of the set of encoded data slices.

15 . The storage processing unit of claim 14 , wherein the directory is updated by:

creating a file name associated with the set of encoded data slices, linking the file name to one or more intermediate file directory folders;

linking the one or more intermediate file directory folders to a root directory folder;

linking the file name to slice names of the set of encoded data slices; and

linking the slice names to storage unit identifiers of the first set of storage units.

16 . The storage processing unit of claim 15 , wherein the directory is further updated by:

creating at least one intermediate file directory folder.

17 . The storage processing unit of claim 11 , wherein the processing module functions to:

receive historical metadata for at least some of the plurality of storage units, wherein the historical metadata includes at least one of,

a history of uptime;

a storage bandwidth;

a retrieval bandwidth;

a storage latency;

a retrieval latency;

a memory capacity;

an available memory;

a storage cost;

a rebuild time;

a location; and

one or more security factors.

18 . The storage processing unit of claim 11 , wherein the processing module functions to:

determine a desired dispersed error coding performance level for the first set of storage units, wherein the desired dispersed error coding performance level comprises at least one of:

an indication of dispersed error coding storage requirements;

an indication of historical dispersed error coding storage performance;

an indication of available storage;

an indication of processing capabilities;

an indication of latency performance; and

an indication of bandwidth performance.

19 . The storage processing unit of claim 11 , wherein the data object comprises at least one of:

a user identification field;

an object name field; and

a data field.

20 . The storage processing unit of claim 11 , wherein the processing module functions to receive at least one of:

a process identifier;

metadata;

a file system directory;

a block number;

a transaction message;

a user device identity;

a data object identifier;

a source name;

and user information.