Patent ID: 8650566

Claim:
A method for provisioning storage for virtual machines configured to be executed in a host computer that is coupled to a storage system having one or more logical storage containers, comprising: creating in a logical storage container logical data storage volumes of a virtual machine and a logical metadata storage volume in which metadata for the logical data storage volumes are to be stored, wherein a file system is created and mounted on the logical metadata storage volume and the metadata for the logical data storage volumes are stored in files of the file system; storing the metadata for the logical data storage volumes including unique identifiers for the logical data storage volumes in the logical metadata storage volume; and upon receiving a request to power on a virtual machine: retrieving a unique identifier for the logical metadata storage volume associated with the virtual machine; identifying a logical data storage volume associated with the virtual machine using a file stored in the logical metadata storage volume; and determining an input/output command (IO) path from the host computer to the logical data storage volume, the IO path including an intermediate point on the storage system and being associated with a first-level identifier corresponding to the intermediate point and a second-level identifier corresponding to the logical data storage volume.