A storage system in one embodiment comprises a front-end device and a first storage node corresponding to the front-end device. The first storage node comprises a processor that is separate from the front-end device. The front-end device is configured to obtain a write operation that comprises at least a first block of data and to calculate a hash digest based at least in part on the first block of data. The front-end device is configured to provide the hash digest to the processor. The processor is configured to identify a first data page that comprises a second block of data that is a target for replacement by the first block of data and to identify a second storage node based at least in part on the first data page. The processor is configured to transmit the hash digest to the second storage node.