Patent ID: 8671265

Claim:
A method for accessing data, the data including one or more storage units, the method comprising: receiving an access request for data, the access request including a client address for the data; determining, by a metadata server, a mapping between the client address and one or more storage unit identifiers for the data, each of the one or more storage unit identifiers uniquely identifying content of a storage unit, wherein the metadata server stores mappings on storage unit identifiers that are referenced by client addresses, and wherein the metadata server comprises a plurality of slice servers, wherein each slice server manages a range of mappings between client addresses and storage unit identifiers for the metadata server; and sending the one or more storage unit identifiers to one or more block servers, the one or more block servers servicing the request using the one or more storage unit identifiers, wherein the one or more block servers store information on where a storage unit is stored on a block server for a storage unit identifier, wherein multiple client addresses associated with a storage unit with a same storage unit identifier are mapped to a single storage unit stored in a storage medium for a block server.