1. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions that when executed by a computer cause the computer to perform a method, the method comprising: systematically locating inodes in an active file system and placing inbound scanner data associated with a located inode in a metadata update data store; detecting events that change inodes in the active file system and placing inbound transaction data concerning a changed inode or the event that changed the changed inode in the metadata update data store; selectively updating a metadata dump data store from the metadata update data store as a function of the inbound scanner data; and selectively updating the metadata dump data store from the metadata update data store as a function of the inbound transaction data, where locating inodes, detecting events, and selectively updating the metadata dump data store operate at least partially in parallel to populate the metadata dump data store with metadata sufficient to restore the metadata of the active file system.