Patent ID: 7240131

Claim:
In a data processing system including a host device with applications being adapted for processing data in predetermined storage locations of a source device, a method for copying data from the source device to storage locations in a destination device concurrently with the operation of the at least one application in response to commands identifying the predetermined storage locations, said method comprising the steps in sequence of: A) responding to a first command by establishing a first operating environment including the generating of first and second lists of the predetermined storage locations in the source device) and a third list of the predetermined storage locations in the destination device, B) initiating a copy process that, for each predetermined storage location, includes: i) copying the data from one predetermined storage location in the source device to a corresponding storage location in the destination device, and ii) updating each of the lists to indicate that the data has been transferred, and iii) responding to a change to a predetermined storage location in the source device by the host application for which a copy has been made, by updating each of the first, second and third lists to denote a change to the data in the first determined location, and C) responding to the second command by establishing a second environment wherein the storage locations in the destination device are available for use by another host application.