Patent ID: 7293030

Claim:
A method to map a storage environment data object, comprising: receiving a reference to the data object in a first storage environment, wherein the data object resides in a second storage environment; generating a first data structure from the reference representing one or more physical locations of the data object within the second storage environment; associating a signature with the data object, wherein the signature is indicative of a state of the data object; retaining the first data structure in the first storage environment; updating the signature to reflect a change in the state of the data object, wherein a determination to update the signature is performed in the second storage environment; querying the second storage environment for a change to the signature in preparation for a data access operation on the data object; updating the first data structure if the signature has changed; and performing the data access operation using the first data structure to interface with one or more of the physical locations of the data object from the first storage environment.