A method begins by a dispersed storage (DS) processing unit of a dispersed storage network (DSN) generating a hint regarding data stored or to be stored. When the data is to be stored, the DS processing module divides the data into data segments and dispersed storage error encodes a data segment of the data segments to produce a set of encoded data slices. The method continues by the DS processing unit generating a set of hints based on the hint and affiliating the set of hints with the set of encoded data slices to produce a set of affiliated encoded data slices. The method continues by the DS processing unit sending the set of affiliated encoded data slices to a set of storage units of the DSN such that a storage unit of the set of storage units stores an encoded data slice in accordance with a corresponding hint.