A method to access an object in a computer system storage includes receiving a
reference to the object, obtaining a referential map based on the reference (the
referential map indicating a plurality of logical storage locations), each logical
storage location associated with a portion of the object, and obtaining a physical
map that is independent of the referential map from one of the logical storage
locations indicated in the referential map, the physical map indicating a physical
storage location of at least a part of that portion of the object being accessed.
Computer storage systems providing distributed storage in accordance with this
method and methods storage media having instructions to perform the method are
also described.
