Patent ID: 8296339

Claim:
A method for optimizing physical locations of data on computer readable storage media, comprising: reading data comprising a plurality of files from a first computer readable storage medium; determining a directory of the plurality of files showing pre-existing logical relationships between the plurality of files as they are stored on the first computer readable storage medium; determining a mapping data structure that represents pre-existing physical locations of said plurality of files on the first computer readable storage medium; exposing an editor user interface comprising the directory and configured to modify the mapping data structure; receiving via said editor a command for modifying a physical location of at least one of the plurality of files and updating said mapping data structure in accordance with the command; emulating reading from an emulated computer readable storage medium by an emulated computing system hardware for reading from the emulated computer readable storage medium, the emulated computer readable storage medium emulating the plurality of files in physical locations corresponding to the updated mapping data structure; and determining based on the emulating to accept the updated mapping data structure.