Patent ID: 6970975

Claim:
A method for enumeration of objects for the purpose of caching in a distributed storage system, said distributed storage system comprising at least one client and at least one storage node, said storage node comprising at least a storage means and a cache, said method comprises: receiving from said client the address of the first object with which to begin an enumeration process; scanning said cache starting from said first object; while scanning said cache, if a synchronized object is found, then copying said synchronized object to a temporary buffer that stores a plurality of enumerated objects; while scanning said cache, if an unsynchronized object is found, then fetching said unsynchronized object from said storage means; updating said cache with said unsynchronized object; adding said unsynchronized object fetched from said storage means to said plurality of enumerated objects stored in said temporary buffer; and returning said plurality of enumerated objects to said client from said temporary buffer.