Patent ID: 7934198

Claim:
A method of directing information to a destination level based at least in part on a memory storing address ranges, comprising: using a network routing or switching device that comprises the memory and a controller and is configured for performing a process comprising: storing a piece of data including a data address; reading the data address and comparing the data address to the address ranges; and directing the piece of data to a next level associated with a unique address space associated with the data address, wherein the act of directing the piece of data to the next level comprises storing address spaces in a plurality of active slices that include predetermined address spaces representing address relationships of an index, the index allows inferring the next level from a current level without requiring to store the index in a volatile memory, the process infers the next level by using a map or an equation rather than using the index, and a shadow slice is utilized by exchanging the shadow slice with one of the plurality of active slices, whereupon the one of the plurality of active slices becomes the shadow slice upon exchange, in which the shadow slice is characterized by being programmed to comprise a recalculated database to capture an insertion or deletion operation on an original database residing in the one or more active slices.