Patent attributes
In accordance with the invention, a data storage system for fixed content includes one or more peer node computer systems interconnected by a storage system network, where each peer node computer system includes a symmetric storage system application and locally attached storage. A data object is distributively stored on one or more of the one or more peer node computer systems and identified using a unique object identifier. A data object is flexibly stored on the data storage system according to external criteria. Stored data objects are accessible from any of the one or more peer node computer systems. Applications can be executed on the data storage system using data objects that are stored on, being written to, or being read from the data storage system to generate results accessible by a user.