Managing file deletions of files and versions of files in storage systems

1. A method for use in managing file deletions in storage systems, the method comprising:

receiving a request to delete a portion of a file of a file system, wherein the file is organized as a hierarchy of file system blocks including indirect blocks and data blocks stored on a storage system, wherein the file and a set of replicas of the file are organized in a version set, each replica of the file representing a state of the file at a particular prior point in time, wherein a set of indirect blocks is associated with the portion of the file identified for deletion, wherein each indirect block of the set of indirect blocks includes a set of file system blocks;

evaluating file system hierarchies of the set of replicas of the file in the version set for identifying a respective sibling indirect block for each indirect block of the set of indirect blocks associated with the portion of the file identified for deletion, wherein a sibling indirect block is included in a file system hierarchy of a replica from the set of replicas of the file organized in the version set, wherein a sibling indirect block for an indirect block is identified based on a number of file system blocks shared between the sibling indirect block and the indirect block, wherein the sibling indirect block and the indirect block shares the most number of file system blocks in comparison with other indirect blocks included in the set of replicas of the file in the version set;

updating metadata of each respective sibling indirect block identified for the set of indirect blocks by adding a reference count of each shared file system block shared between an indirect block of the set of indirect blocks and the respective sibling indirect block for the indirect block to the metadata of the respective sibling indirect block indicating that the shared file system blocks are no longer shared between the indirect block and the respective sibling indirect block, wherein updating metadata of a sibling indirect block identified for an indirect block enables deletion of file system blocks shared between the sibling indirect block and the indirect block without having to read and update metadata of each shared file system block from a storage device; and

deleting the set of indirect blocks of the file by returning distributed weight for each shared file system block of each indirect block of the set of indirect blocks to metadata of a respective sibling indirect block identified in another file included in the set of replicas.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the portion of the file selected for deletion is associated with the set of indirect blocks, each indirect block of the set of indirect blocks pointing to a set of data blocks.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein for each indirect block of the set, of indirect blocks, a sibling indirect block included in a file system hierarchy of a replica of the file is identified based on a replication identifier.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein a mapping pointer is associated with a file system block, wherein the mapping pointer includes a distributed weight indicating whether the file system block has been shared.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein updating the metadata of a sibling indirect block identified for an indirect block includes adding weight of each data block shared between the sibling indirect block and the indirect block to a mapping pointer associated with each shared data block included in the sibling indirect block.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein each indirect block of the set of indirect blocks is deleted based on a delegated reference counting mechanism.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

determining whether a sibling indirect block is associated with a production file; and

based on the determination, identifying another sibling indirect block.

8. A system for use in managing file deletions in storage systems, the system comprising a processor configured to:

receive a request to delete a portion of a file of a file system, wherein the file is organized as a hierarchy of file system blocks including indirect blocks and data blocks stored on a storage system, wherein the file and a set of replicas of the file are organized in a version set, each replica of the file representing a state of the file at a particular prior point in time, wherein a set of indirect blocks is associated with the portion of the file identified for deletion, wherein each indirect block of the set of indirect blocks includes a set of file system blocks;

evaluate file system hierarchies of the set of replicas of the file in the version set for identifying a respective sibling indirect block for each indirect block of the set of indirect blocks associated with the portion of the file identified for deletion, wherein a sibling indirect block is included in a file system hierarchy of a replica from the set of replicas of the file organized in the version set, wherein a sibling indirect block for an indirect block is identified based on a number of file system blocks shared between the sibling indirect block and the indirect block, wherein the sibling indirect block and the indirect block shares the most number of file system blocks in comparison with other indirect blocks included in the set of replicas of the file in the version set;

update metadata of each respective sibling indirect block identified for the set of indirect blocks by adding a reference count of each shared file system block shared between an indirect block of the set of indirect blocks and the respective sibling indirect block for the indirect block to the metadata of the respective sibling indirect block indicating that the shared file system blocks are no longer shared between the indirect block and the respective sibling indirect block, wherein updating metadata of a sibling indirect block identified for an indirect block enables deletion of file system blocks shared between the sibling indirect block and the indirect block without having to read and update metadata of each shared file system block from a storage device; and

delete the set of indirect blocks of the file by returning distributed weight for each shared file system block of each indirect block of the set of indirect blocks to metadata of a respective sibling indirect block identified in another file included in the set of replicas.

9. The system of claim 8 , wherein the portion of the file selected for deletion is associated with the set of indirect blocks, each indirect block of the set of indirect blocks pointing to a set of data blocks.

10. The system of claim 9 , wherein for each indirect block of the set of indirect blocks, a sibling indirect block included in a file system hierarchy of a replica of the file is identified based on a replication identifier.

11. The system of claim 8 , wherein a mapping pointer is associated with a file system block, wherein the mapping pointer includes a distributed weight indicating whether the file system block has been shared.

12. The system of claim 8 , wherein updating the metadata of a sibling indirect block identified for an indirect block includes adding weight of each data block shared between the sibling indirect block and the indirect block to a mapping pointer associated with each shared data block included in the sibling indirect block.

13. The system of claim 8 , wherein each indirect block of the set of indirect blocks is deleted based on a delegated reference counting mechanism.

14. The system of claim 8 , wherein the processor is further configured to:

determining whether a sibling indirect block is associated with a production file; and

based on the determination, identifying another sibling indirect block.