Systems and methods for managing content in a flash memory and to managing a lifespan of the flash memory. The lifespan is managed by throttling writes when usage exceeds certain quotas. The throttling may be performed in a cooperative manner such that the clients writing to the flash memory can implement their own throttling. The quotas are not rigid and allow flexibility to certain situations. When excessive quota is used, future quotas can be managed to bring the overall usage into an expected range.