US Patent 10437677 Optimized distributed rebuilding within a dispersed storage network

A method includes performing, by a storage unit, a rebuild scanning function to identify an encoded data slice in need of rebuilding. The method further includes identifying, by the storage unit, storage units in the set of storage units storing encoded data slices of the set of encoded data slices that are usable for rebuilding the encoded data slice in need of rebuilding. The method further includes selecting, by the storage unit, one of the identified storage units to rebuild the encoded data slice in need of rebuilding based on a selection protocol. The method further includes sending, by the storage unit, a rebuild command to the one of the identified storage units regarding rebuilding the encoded data slice in need of rebuilding, wherein, in accordance with a rebuilding function, the one of the identified storage units rebuilds the encoded data slice in need of rebuilding.