Method and apparatus for managing data in a data storage device configured as a storage compute appliance. In some embodiments, the data storage device has a controller circuit and a non-volatile memory (NVM) with an overall data storage capacity. A processor authenticates each of a plurality of authorized users of the NVM via data exchanges between a host device and the processor without reference to an external authentication authority device. Upon authentication, each authorized user is allocated a separate portion of the overall data storage capacity of the NVM using an allocation model. The size of at least one of the separate portions is subsequently adjusted based on an access history of the NVM. The storage device may be a key-value storage device so that a separate set of key values is provided to each authorized user to identify data blocks stored to and retrieved from the NVM.