Patent ID: 7945724
Filing Date: 2011-05-17
Classification: G06F

Abstract:
1. A method of operating a storage system, the method comprising: operating the storage system to provide a remote processing device with access to data stored in a storage subsystem that includes a plurality of non-volatile mass storage devices; prior to an initialization process associated with the storage system, identifying a plurality of blocks that will be needed for the initialization process; storing, in a non-volatile solid-state storage facility which is logically separate from the storage subsystem, information representative of the plurality of blocks; and in response to a change that modifies a block of the plurality of blocks, storing in the non-volatile solid-state storage facility metadata indicative of the change, without storing the modified block in the non-volatile solid-state storage facility; and accessing the information in the non-volatile storage facility to identify and retrieve the plurality of blocks to perform the initialization process, including accessing the metadata and using the metadata to identify and access the modified data block during the initialization process.