Various approaches for allocating storage for a file are disclosed. In one approach, in response to each call to allocate an available portion of storage, one of a plurality of allocation approaches is selected based on a value of a file attribute associated with the file. If a first one of the allocation approaches is selected, a portion of storage is selected for storage of data using an approach that emphasizes storage of data in sequential physical storage. If a second one of the allocation approaches is selected, a portion of storage using an approach that emphasizes maintaining concurrent access to the file.