| CPC G06F 12/12 (2013.01) [G06F 1/10 (2013.01)] | 20 Claims | 

| 
               1. A method comprising: 
            receiving, by a cache, a request for metadata pertaining to an object ID, the request including a clock value, the clock value indicating an approximate time in which the metadata pertaining to the object ID was current; 
                determining, by the cache, that the clock value in the request is less than or equal to a guaranteed clock value in the cache, wherein a determination that the clock value in the request is less than or equal to the guaranteed clock value in the cache indicates that the cache is current since the clock value in the request; 
                determining, by the cache, that a root object ID for an object at a root file path containing the object ID identified in the request is not marked stale; and 
                returning, by the cache, the metadata pertaining to the object ID for the clock value in the request. 
               |