Patent ID: 8126935

Claim:
A method for supporting multiple volume formats by a computer storage system having a processor and a memory, comprising: supporting simultaneously a plurality of volumes with multiple formats stored at one or more data storage devices operatively connected to the computer storage system; associating a first volume type value with a first volume format of the multiple formats and associating a second volume type value with a second volume format of the multiple formats; examining a field from a top level of a volume of the plurality of volumes to determine whether the field comprises the first volume type value or whether the field comprises the second volume type value; and performing a data access operation to the volume by translating a plurality of pointers of the volume in accordance with the first volume format in response to the field comprising the first volume type value, and performing the data access operation to the volume by translating the plurality of pointers of the volume in accordance with the second volume format in response to the field comprising the second volume type value.