Patent ID: 6928466

Claim:
A caching system for identifying memory component identifiers associated with data in a storage device, comprising: said storage device is a data processing system comprising a disk drive and a main memory for storing data; means for creating a cache of said memory component identifiers, wherein said memory component identifiers comprise identifiers that are invalid; said means for creating said cache further comprising, means for creating in said main memory a first name cache, means for, in response to an initial request to open a specified file nested in a path of one or more directories, accessing said disk and determining that directory entries and file entries do not contain said specified file, means for storing in said first name cache a history of paths of said directory entries and said file entries that do not contain said specified file, means for, in response to a subsequent request to open said specified file, searching through said history of said first name cache to locate said directory entries that do not contain said specified file, and means for returning a response that said specified file is not contained on said disk; and means for managing said cache of memory component identifiers.