Patent ID: 7886124

Claim:
A computer implemented method for performing storage management for a computing system, comprising: receiving a space allocation request to store an object having a first size in a storage management system, in which the storage management system identifies or creates a plurality of storage units having a plurality of different sizes in a segment of a computer readable storage medium, and each of at least some of the plurality of storage units comprises a contiguous storage portion of the storage management system; searching a structure that tracks free space from the plurality of storage units in the segment, in which the act of searching the structure comprises: examining the structure to identify a contiguous storage unit which has a size that exactly matches the first size by using at least one processor, using the contiguous storage unit to fulfill the space allocation request if the contiguous storage unit with the size that exactly matches the first size is identified from the plurality of storage units, and creating the contiguous storage unit with the size that exactly matches the first size to fulfill the space allocation request if the contiguous storage unit is not identified from the plurality of storage units; and storing the object in the contiguous storage unit.