Patent ID: 8074041

Claim:
An apparatus to manage storage space allocation, the apparatus comprising: a reclaiming module configured to reclaim a logical unit of space in a storage area network (SAN) data storage system to a local pool managed by a client in response to a deletion of data without a request to a metadata server configured to allocate space and maintain a record of a status of each logical unit of space, wherein the reclaimed logical unit of space may be requested by another client; a requesting module configured to request a logical unit of space from another client without a request to the metadata server; a recognizing module configured to recognize a trigger event at the client, wherein the trigger event comprises passing either a predetermined upper or lower threshold for a pool of logical units; a reserving module configured to reserve space to store data using a logical unit of the space of the plurality of logical units of space in the local pool in response to the trigger event without a request to the metadata server; and a managing module configured to manage the plurality of logical units of space at the client, wherein the managing module controls allocation of the logical units of space independently of the metadata server.