1. An apparatus, comprising: a volatile memory comprising a first operating system kernel; and a processor coupled to the volatile memory, wherein, when executing the first operating system kernel, the processor is configured for: executing a first storage system application for accessing and updating a current system configuration on top of a first operating system kernel, locking the current system configuration from performing non-critical updates, creating a second storage system application for accessing and updating a subsequent system configuration on top of a second operating system kernel while executing the first storage system application, storing, to the volatile memory, the subsequent system configuration, tagging the subsequent system configuration, initiating a boot of the second operating system kernel while preserving in the volatile memory contents stored therein, retrieving, following the boot of the second operating system kernel, a set of parameters referencing the tagged subsequent system configuration from the volatile memory, and executing the second storage system application to use the subsequent system configuration based on the retrieved set of parameters.