Abstract: A billing process is disclosed for a information dispersal system or digital data storage system. In one embodiment of the invention, the original data to be stored is separated into a number of data “slices” or shares in such a manner that the data in each subset is less usable or less recognizable or completely unusable or completely unrecognizable by itself except when combined with some or all of the other data subsets. These data subsets are stored on separate digital data storage devices as a way of increasing privacy and security. As dispersed file shares are being stored or removed from a grid of distributed storage locations, a set of metadata tables are created, separate from the dispersed file share storage, to maintain information about the original data size of each block, file or set of file shares dispersed on the grid.

Abstract: Briefly, the present invention relates to an information dispersal sytem in which original data to be stored is separated into a number of data “slices” in such a manner that the data in each subset is less usable or less recognizable or completely unusable or completely unrecognizable by itself except when combined with some or all of the other data subsets. These data subsets are stored on separate storage devices as a way of increasing privacy and security. In accordance with an important aspect of the invention, a metadata management system stores and indexes user files across all of the storage nodes. A number of applications run on the servers supporting these storage nodes and are responsible for controlling the metadata. Metadata is the information about the data, the data slices or data subsets and the way in which these data subsets are dispersed among different storage nodes running over the network.

Abstract: An efficient method for breaking source data into smaller data subsets and storing those subsets along with coded information about some of the other data subsets on different storage nodes such that the original data can be recreated from a portion of those data subsets in an efficient manner.

Abstract: A digital data file storage system is disclosed in which original data files to be stored are dispersed using some form of information dispersal algorithm into a number of file “slices” or subsets in such a manner that the data in each file share is less usable or less recognizable or completely unusable or completely unrecognizable by itself except when combined with some or all of the other file shares. These file shares are stored on separate digital data storage devices as a way of increasing privacy and security. As dispersed file shares are being transferred to or stored on a grid of distributed storage locations, various grid resources may become non-operational or may operate below at a less than optimal level. When dispersed file shares are being written to a dispersed storage grid which not available, the grid clients designates the dispersed data shares that could not be written at that time on a Rebuild List.