Patent ID: 7337360

Claim:
A method for accessing a group of memory locations in a computer system, the method comprising: maintaining, for said group of memory locations, a first data structure that has a plurality of entries, the plurality of entries including one or more entries dedicated to each memory status type in a set of two or more memory status types, wherein the one or more entries dedicated to a given memory status type include an indication of any and all memory locations in said group of memory locations that currently have a status corresponding to the given memory status type; receiving a write request to a first memory location within said group of memory locations; reading from a first group of one or more entries within said first data structure to determine whether said first memory location is indicated as having a protected memory status, wherein the first group of one or more entries are dedicated to one or more memory status types indicative of a protected memory status; and redirecting said write request to a second memory location if said one or more entries indicate that said first memory location has a protected memory status, wherein said redirecting preserves the contents of the first memory location for a first recovery point.