Patent ID: 8903875

Claim:
A computer-implemented method, comprising: providing a union mount of multiple file systems, including at least a first file system and a second file system, for a unified view of files and directories of the multiple file systems, the multiple file systems overlaid in the unified view, each of the multiple file systems having a mount point in the union mount, wherein the multiple file systems include a priority order, files of a common name between the file systems masked in the unified view according to the priority order, wherein the first file system is of a higher priority than the second file system according to the priority order; in response to a request for searching a file having a path via the unified view, performing a first lookup in a first directory of the first file system according to the path to locate the file; traversing, if the first lookup fails to locate the file in the first directory of the first file system, from the first directory back to a mount point of the first file system to recreate a search path from the mount point to the first directory; and performing a second lookup in a second directory of the second file system to locate the file in the second file system, wherein the second directory is identified by the recreated search path.