1. A method for configuring a storage system including a storage controller and a storage disk array, comprising: (a) storing metadata in at least one sector of said storage disk array; and (b) associating each sector of metadata with a related user data block according to a desired scheme to produce a memory data layout structure on said storage disk array; wherein said at least one sector of metadata are not adjacent to said related block of user data, said desired scheme providing metadata management independence from a change in a cache block size of said storage controller of said storage system.