1. A method for performing de-duplication operations in a data storage system, comprising: coordinating with a kernel module of the data storage system to identify a unit of data, wherein the unit of data is part of a logical block of data stored in physical storage of the data storage system; reading the identified unit of data; calculating a signature of the identified unit of data; determining whether the identified unit of data is a candidate for de-duplication by searching a de-duplication data structure for the signature of the identified unit of data; and performing block-level de-duplication of the logical block of data by de-duplicating the candidate for de-duplication, wherein the coordination with the kernel module of the data storage system further comprises consulting a volume table associated with the logical block of data to identify the unit of data, and wherein the identified unit of data is a next logical chunk in the logical block to read for de-duplication operations.