Patent ID: 7769931

Claim:
A method comprising: increasing capacity of a data storage management system using meta-data by: in a processor, defining a first plurality of meta-data including storage attributes stored in a memory associated with a first plurality of monitored elements; defining a second plurality of meta-data including storage attributes associated with a second plurality of monitored elements different from the first plurality of monitored elements; associating a first value with the first plurality of meta-data and a second value with the second plurality of meta-data; interpreting, at an administration layer of the data management system, a first poll request as applying to the first plurality of monitored elements based on the first value and a second poll request as applying to the second plurality of monitored elements based on the second value; passing the first poll request directed to the first plurality of monitored elements from the administration layer to a kernel space of the data management system; passing the second poll request directed to the second plurality of monitored elements from the administration layer to the kernel space; at the kernel space, initiating polling of the first plurality of monitored elements based on the first poll request; at the kernel space, initiating polling of the second plurality of monitored elements based on the second poll request; and returning results from the second poll request to the administrative layer.