HYBRID STORAGE AGGREGATE BLOCK TRACKING

摘要

Methods and apparatuses for operating a hybrid storage aggregate are provided. In one example, such a method includes operating a first tier of physical storage of the hybrid storage aggregate as a cache for a second tier of physical storage of the hybrid storage aggregate. The first tier of physical storage includes a plurality of assigned blocks. The method also includes updating metadata of the assigned blocks in response to an event associated with at least one of the assigned blocks. The metadata includes block usage information tracking more than two possible usage states per assigned block. The method can further include processing the metadata to determine a caching characteristic of the assigned blocks.