Patent ID: 7676704

Claim:
A computer file system comprising: stored data; and stored metadata; wherein in response to detecting that a file system error has occurred, the file system is configured to: identify a first container which corresponds to the detected error; perform a consistency check of file data and metadata included in the first container; determine if a first bidirectional link exists between the first container and a second container; and perform a consistency check of file data and metadata included in the second container, in response to detecting an error in said first bidirectional link; wherein the file system is further configured to maintain a table of bidirectional links between a plurality of containers; wherein said table includes at least one pair of entries, each entry identifying a source container, a source inode, and a destination inode; wherein a source inode of a given entry corresponds to a source container of the given entry; and wherein for a given pair of entries, a destination inode of a first entry is the same as a source inode of a second entry.