Patent ID: 7499959

Claim:
A method for checking a file system, comprising: sending a request from at least one external client, to retrieve an object from a file system contained on a file server, the object located within an inode on the file system; accessing a file system structure on the file system by making a function call, the function call including a command that retrieves the inode containing the requested object; modifying the command to include a check of the inode and any associated buffer trees; performing an on-line checking of the inode and the associated buffer trees for coherency while the inode is being retrieved by the file system, performing the inode check by, verifying that all pointers point to valid file system structures; clearing any pointers that are directed to an invalid file system structure; verifying that no file system structure has multiple pointers; clearing all but the first pointer to a file system structure that has multiple pointers; and marking the file system structure as checked; and repairing any non-coherent portions of the file system located during checking.