Patent ID: 8131765

Claim:
An apparatus comprising: a storage address translation table module that maintains a storage address translation table wherein each entry of the storage address translation table comprises a saved file path, a saved common storage address within a common storage address range of a common storage area, and a saved user storage address within a user common storage address range of a user common storage area, wherein the user common storage area is congruent to and overlays the common storage area to incorporate user modification of common data into a unique image for each user; and a storage mapper module that receives a storage access request, accesses the storage address translation table, looks up a matching entry in the storage address translation table wherein the requested file path matches the saved file path and the requested storage address matches the saved common storage address, maps the saved user storage address from the matching entry as a mapped storage address if the matching entry exists, and passes through the requested storage address as the mapped storage address if the matching entry does not exist wherein the storage address translation table module and storage mapper module comprise one or more of circuitry and executable code, the executable code stored on one or more tangible storage devices.