Abstract: Example data storage systems and methods are described. In one implementation, a method identifies data to be written to a shared storage system that includes multiple storage nodes. The method communicates a write operation vote request to each of the multiple storage nodes. The write operation vote request is associated with a data write operation to write the identified data to the shared storage system. A positive response is received from at least a portion of the multiple storage nodes. The data write operation is initiated in response to receiving positive responses from a quorum of the storage nodes.