Abstract: Cost considerate placement of data within a pool of storage resources, including: receiving one or more data objects for storage; selecting, based at least upon a storage policy and upon one or more characteristics of storage data, one or more storage classes from among a plurality of storage classes of one or more data storage services, wherein the storage policy specifies parameters for one or more of: storage costs, storage operation response time, data resiliency, or service level agreement specifications; and storing the one or more data objects to the selected one or more storage classes of the one or more data storage services.

Abstract: An illustrative unified data storage method includes providing, by a data storage system, block containers that represent a linear address space of blocks; and using, by the data storage system, the block containers to store content for a plurality of different data storage services. In certain examples, the different data storage services include at least one of a file storage service, an object storage service, or a database service.

Abstract: Cost conscious garbage collection, including: selecting one or more storage classes from among a plurality of storage classes of one or more data storage services for storing one or more data objects; determining, for the one or more data objects stored in the one or more data storage services, an estimated quantity of data eligible for garbage collection; and initiating, after determining that resources for continued storage of the one or more data objects exceed resources for performing garbage collection on the data eligible for garbage collection and based upon an expected cost savings based on storage cost savings from performing garbage collection compared against access cost expenses for performing one or more cloud-based operations to perform the garbage collection, garbage collection on the one or more data objects in the one or more data storage services.

Abstract: Tiering snapshots across different storage tiers, including: creating a snapshot of a dataset, wherein the snapshot includes user data and metadata; offloading the snapshot of the dataset to a first storage level storage system; and migrating, in accordance with a lifecycle policy and via one or more copy offload operations, the snapshot from the first storage level storage system to a second storage level storage system.

Abstract: Protecting data stored on a storage system through the use of different storage levels, including: creating a snapshot of a dataset stored on a storage system, wherein the snapshot includes user data and metadata, and wherein the metadata describes the storage layout of the dataset, offloading the snapshot to a first storage level storage system, and migrating, in accordance with a lifecycle policy, the snapshot from the first storage level storage system onto a second storage level storage system.

Abstract: A first plurality of block identifiers is sorted based, at least in part, on a measure of spatial locality. A second plurality of block identifiers is sorted based, at least in part, on the measure of spatial locality. At least the first plurality of block identifiers and the second plurality of block identifiers are incrementally merged into a third plurality of block identifiers based, at least in part, on the measure of spatial locality. A block of data corresponding to metadata associated with a plurality of block identifiers of the third plurality of block identifiers is updated.

Abstract: Cost conscious garbage collection, including: selecting one or more storage classes from among a plurality of storage classes of one or more data storage services for storing one or more data objects; determining, for the one or more data objects stored in the one or more data storage services, an estimated quantity of data eligible for garbage collection; and initiating, after determining that resources for continued storage of the one or more data objects exceed resources for performing garbage collection on the data eligible for garbage collection and based upon an expected cost savings based on storage cost savings from performing garbage collection compared against access cost expenses for performing one or more cloud-based operations to perform the garbage collection, garbage collection on the one or more data objects in the one or more data storage services.

Abstract: An illustrative data storage system is configured to replicate, from a source storage system to a target storage system, a pod that includes a file system constructed of block objects. The pod may be a storage system construct that groups storage entities within a namespace and supports operations on the storage entities as a group. The block objects may store metadata for individual files and directories of the file system and may support random read-write access to blocks of data associated with the files and directories of the file system.

Abstract: An illustrative data storage system is configured to use pods to efficiently copy files systems constructed of block objects. In certain examples, the storage system generates, based on a pod that includes a file system constructed of block objects, a virtual copy of the pod such that modifications made to the pod (e.g., modifications to contents of the block objects by way of the pod) after the generation of the virtual copy of the pod are distinct from the virtual copy of the pod. In certain examples, the virtual copy of the pod is a writeable clone of the pod and modifications made to the clone (e.g., modifications to contents of the block objects by way of the clone) after the generation of the clone are distinct from the pod.

Abstract: An illustrative data storage system establishes path sets that represent relationships between service layer entities and storage layer entities associated with service layer entities. The data storage system coordinates, based on the path sets and on operations applied to one or more of the service layer entities, implementation of the operations on the storage layer entities. The path sets may be used to support implementation of snapshots, space accounting, and/or other operations of the data storage system.

Abstract: An illustrative system is configured to optimize a transfer of a file system from a source storage system to a target storage system. For example, the system, in association with the transfer, determines that a copy of a collection of blocks containing data of block objects of the file system is already stored at the target storage system. In certain examples, an identifier referencing the collection of blocks is shared by the source and target storage systems and is used to determine that the copy of the collection of blocks containing data of block objects of the file system is already stored at the target storage system. The system uses the copy of the collection of blocks already stored at the target storage system instead of transferring the collection of blocks from the source storage system to the target storage system as part of the transfer.

Abstract: An illustrative unified data storage method includes providing, by a data storage system, block containers that represent a linear address space of blocks; and using, by the data storage system, the block containers to store content for a plurality of different data storage services. In certain examples, the different data storage services include at least one of a file storage service, an object storage service, or a database service.

Abstract: Storage management within a cloud-based data store, including: receiving one or more data objects for storage; selecting, based at least upon a storage policy and upon one or more characteristics of storage data, one or more storage classes from among a plurality of storage classes of one or more data storage services; and storing the one or more data objects to the selected one or more storage classes of the one or more data storage services.

Abstract: A first plurality of block identifiers is sorted based, at least in part, on a measure of spatial locality. A second plurality of block identifiers is sorted based, at least in part, on the measure of spatial locality. At least the first plurality of block identifiers and the second plurality of block identifiers are incrementally merged into a third plurality of block identifiers based, at least in part, on the measure of spatial locality. A block of data corresponding to metadata associated with a plurality of block identifiers of the third plurality of block identifiers is updated.

Abstract: A first plurality of block identifiers is sorted based, at least in part, on a measure of spatial locality. A second plurality of block identifiers is sorted based, at least in part, on the measure of spatial locality. At least the first plurality of block identifiers and the second plurality of block identifiers are incrementally merged into a third plurality of block identifiers based, at least in part, on the measure of spatial locality. A block of data corresponding to metadata associated with a plurality of block identifiers of the third plurality of block identifiers is updated.

Abstract: Protecting data stored on a storage system through the use of different storage levels, including: creating a snapshot of a dataset stored on a storage system, wherein the snapshot includes user data and metadata, and wherein the metadata describes the storage layout of the dataset, offloading the snapshot to a first storage level storage system, and migrating, in accordance with a lifecycle policy, the snapshot from the first storage level storage system onto a second storage level storage system.

Abstract: A first plurality of block identifiers is sorted based, at least in part, on a measure of spatial locality. A second plurality of block identifiers is sorted based, at least in part, on the measure of spatial locality. At least the first plurality of block identifiers and the second plurality of block identifiers are incrementally merged into a third plurality of block identifiers based, at least in part, on the measure of spatial locality. A block of data corresponding to metadata associated with a plurality of block identifiers of the third plurality of block identifiers is updated.

Abstract: A first plurality of block identifiers is sorted based, at least in part, on a measure of spatial locality. A second plurality of block identifiers is sorted based, at least in part, on the measure of spatial locality. At least the first plurality of block identifiers and the second plurality of block identifiers are incrementally merged into a third plurality of block identifiers based, at least in part, on the measure of spatial locality. A block of data corresponding to metadata associated with a plurality of block identifiers of the third plurality of block identifiers is updated.

Abstract: Protecting data stored on a storage system through the use of different storage levels, including: creating a snapshot of a dataset stored on a storage system, wherein the snapshot includes user data and metadata, and wherein the metadata describes the storage layout of the dataset, offloading the snapshot to a first storage level storage system, and migrating, in accordance with a lifecycle policy, the snapshot from the first storage level storage system onto a second storage level storage system.

Abstract: Presented herein are mass data storage networks, file system protocols, non-transitory machine readable devices, and methods for storing data blocks in mass data storage systems. Methods for storing data blocks in a file system are disclosed which include: receiving by storage controller of the data storage system a request to write a data file to a system storage module; determining whether the data file includes a sub-K data chunk that is less than approximately four kilobytes; identifying a packed block that stores a plurality of sub-K data chunks and has sufficient storage space available to store the sub-K data chunk; and placing, by the storage controller in the packed block, the sub-K data chunk and a corresponding data length and a respective offset identifying a location of the sub-K data chunk in the packed block.