Metadata management on a storage device

A storage device comprising:

• a data storage portion comprising a set of blocks designated to store metadata;
• and
• a controller configured to:
• write first metadata at a first location designated by a first pointer in the data storage portion of the storage device, wherein the first location designated by the first pointer references a block of the set of blocks that does not contain any valid metadata;
• determine a number of valid blocks of previously written metadata in a subset of the set of blocks, wherein the subset of the set of blocks comprises a predetermined number of sequential blocks less than a total number of blocks in the set of blocks, and wherein a sequentially first block of the subset of blocks is at a second location designated by a second pointer in the data storage portion of the storage device;
• and
• in response to determining that the number of valid blocks of previously written metadata is greater than zero, rewrite the valid previously written metadata in the subset of blocks to a group of one or more sequential blocks of the data storage portion, wherein the block referenced by the first location is sequential with the group of one or more sequential blocks, and wherein a number of blocks in the group of one or more sequential blocks is less than or equal to the number of valid blocks of previously written metadata in the subset of blocks.

A computer-readable storage medium storing instructions that, when executed, cause a processor to:

• write first metadata at a first location designated by a first pointer in a data storage portion of a storage device, wherein the data storage portion comprises a set of blocks designated to store metadata, and wherein the first location designated by the first pointer references a block of the set of blocks that does not contain any valid metadata;
• determine a number of valid blocks of previously written metadata in a subset of the set of blocks, wherein the subset of the set of blocks comprises a predetermined number of sequential blocks less than a total number of blocks in the set of blocks, and wherein a sequentially first block of the subset of blocks is at a second location designated by a second pointer in the data storage portion of the storage device;
• and
• in response to determining that the number of valid blocks of previously written metadata is greater than zero, rewrite the valid previously written metadata in the subset of blocks to a group of one or more sequential blocks of the data storage portion, wherein the block referenced by the first location is sequential with the group of one or more sequential blocks, and wherein a number of blocks in the group of one or more sequential blocks is less than or equal to the number of valid blocks of previously written metadata in the subset of blocks.