Patent ID: 8458238

Claim:
A system for efficient write journal entry management of an array of storage devices suitable for being accessed by a plurality of host computers over a network, comprising: a processor configured to receive a command to access a virtual file volume from the plurality of host computers, wherein the virtual file volume includes a plurality of data regions; a volatile memory unit coupled to the processor, the volatile memory unit including an array of I/O counters, wherein each I/O counter included in the array of I/O counters indicates an amount of outstanding host write operations for a corresponding data region included in the plurality of data regions; a non-volatile memory unit coupled to the processor, the non-volatile memory unit including a plurality of sync state bits, each of the plurality of sync state bits representing a sync status of a corresponding data region; and wherein the processor is configured for updating the plurality of sync state bits for write journaling, wherein the processor examines an I/O counter associated with a current data region to determine whether the current data region is synchronized, and wherein the current data region is calculated when a virtual write 1/0 operation for the current region is issued.