Patent ID: 8200719

Claim:
A computer-accessible non-transitory storage medium storing program instructions executable to: receive input specifying a file system operation and a first pathname, wherein the first pathname comprises a character string, wherein the first pathname points to a file, wherein the file is assigned to a first storage tier based on an importance level of the file, wherein the character string includes a plurality of components, and wherein the plurality of components includes one or more directory components and a storage tier component; parse the character string to extract the one or more directory components, wherein the one or more directory components specify a first directory, and the first directory includes a plurality of files assigned to a first storage tier and a plurality of files assigned to a second storage tier; parse the character string to extract the storage tier component, wherein the storage tier component specifies the first storage tier, wherein the first storage tier specified by the storage tier component is identified by a storage tier name, and wherein the storage tier name is determined by a portion of the storage tier component following a storage tier identifier in the character string; and perform the file system operation, wherein the file system operation operates on the first directory and the first storage tier, wherein the file system is operable to split the file across the first storage tier and a second storage tier, and the file system operates on the union of the first storage tier and the second storage tier as specified in the storage tier component of the character string.