Apparatus and method for implementing dynamic structure level pointers

A method, in a computing device, for performing instant copy operations in a data storage system, the method comprising:

• copying a first pointer that points to a fixed level of the stored data;
• determining if the first pointer has an associated second pointer;
• and
• if the first pointer has an associated second pointer, copying the second pointer, wherein the second pointer points to a portion of structure information that indicates a method to determine the location of a plurality of data structures having a finer granularity than the fixed level without having pointers to each of the plurality of data structures.

A computer program product in a computer readable medium for performing instant copy operations in a data storage system, the computer program product comprising:

• first instructions for copying a first pointer that points to a fixed level of the stored data;
• second instructions for determining if the first pointer has an associated second pointer;
• and
• third instructions for copying a second pointer associated with the first pointer, if the first pointer has an associated second pointer, wherein the second pointer points to a portion of structure information that indicates a method to determine the location of a plurality of data structures having a finer granularity than the fixed level without having pointers to each of the plurality of data structures.

An apparatus for performing instant copy operations in a data storage system, comprising:

• means for copying a first pointer that points to a fixed level of the stored data;
• means for determining if the first pointer has an associated second pointer;
• and
• means for copying a second pointer associated with the first pointer, if the first pointer has an associated second pointer, wherein the second pointer points to a portion of structure information that indicates a method to determine the location of a plurality of storage structures having a finer granularity than the fixed level without having pointers to each of the plurality of storage structures.