Patent ID: 7779425

Claim:
In a computing environment having an operating system and a file system, wherein the operating system includes a component that receives file system-related function calls and provides corresponding I/O request data directed to the file system, a system comprising: a processor and memory, the memory storing: a plurality of filter drivers; and a filter manager that: a) registers each of the filter drivers; b) arranges the filter drivers in at least one pre-callback order, each pre-callback order corresponding to a set of one or more of the filter drivers; c) receives the I/O request data, the I/O request data comprising one of an I/O Request Packet (IRP), fast I/O paths, or Fs Filter callbacks; d) calls at least one of the filter drivers based on a selected pre-callback order, including providing callback data based on the request to each filter driver called, the callback data comprising a conversion of the I/O request data into a uniform structure, wherein the filter manager is configured to convert each of IRPs, fast I/O paths, and Fs Filter callbacks into callback data having the uniform structure; e) receives a status from each filter driver called; and f) after calling and providing the callback data to the at least one of the filter drivers, converts the callback data back to I/O request data and passes the I/O request data towards the file system including data corresponding to the callback data.