Systems and methods are provided for optimizing data storage and improving the speed of data retrieval in a data store, such as a storage server connected to a large network through the use of bucketing techniques to create efficient data structures for storing received key-value datasets at one or more storage servers. Fast key-value read requests and key-value retrievals may be accomplished through the use of multiphase lookup operations on the one or more storage servers. The system is optimized for best performance of retrieval through the separation of the write and read mechanisms. Systems and methods provided herein control the level of wastefulness on the back end of a system and reduce read operation inefficiencies on the front end of a system.