Patent ID: 7685378

Claim:
A method of operating a storage system, comprising: receiving first write data for storage to a first volume in the storage system; creating first metadata for the first write data, said first metadata including a first time and a first sequence number; storing, as a journal entry in a journal volume, the first metadata and a copy of the first write data as first journal data, said first journal data having a first storage size; accumulating the first storage size for each journal entry over a predetermined time period, so that total amounts of journal data for each predetermined time period of a plurality of predetermined time periods are determined and stored as the journal volume is updated; receiving at a computer in communication with the storage system the total amounts of journal data for a plurality of said predetermined time periods; presenting to a user of the computer a relation between the total amounts of journal data and said plurality of predetermined time periods over a specified period of time; comparing the first time of the journal entry with start times of the predetermined time periods assigned for managing journal entries in the journal volume; adding the first storage size of the first journal data to the total amount of journal data for a current time period when the first time is before a start time of a next time period following the current time period; and setting the next time period as a new current time period and setting the first storage size of the first journal data as a new current total amount of journal data for the next time period when the first time is after the start time of the next time period.