Patent ID: 8775368

Claim:
A method for managing data, comprising: providing a first logical device; providing a second logical device having a table of information included in the second logical device that maps sections of the first logical device to sections of at least two storage areas that include physical storage space; evaluating characteristics of data associated with at least one of the sections of the first logical device; moving the data associated with the at least one of the sections of the first logical device between the at least two storage areas according to a policy and based on the characteristics of the data, wherein each of the at least two storage areas corresponds to a different storage tier and wherein each of the storage tiers has at least one different characteristic, wherein the table of information is stored independently of the data moved between the at least two storage areas, and wherein the table of information identifies sections of the second logical device for which no corresponding physical storage space of the at least two storage areas has yet been allocated, the table of information of the second logical device indicating a maximum amount of the physical storage space that is available on the at least two storage areas even though the corresponding physical storage space has not yet been allocated; and updating the table of information according to the movement of data between the at least two storage areas.