A data storage system includes a bridging device. The bridging device is configured to receive, from a host through a network, a host data block size. A sub-block size is determined based on the host data block size. One or more storage devices are configured to include a plurality of storage sub-blocks each having the sub-block size. A first write command to write first host data including a first number of host data blocks to the one or more storage devices is received. The bridging device compresses the first host data to generate first compressed data, and write the first compressed data to a second number of storage sub-blocks of the one or more storage devices.