1. A method of generating a representation of a storage network, comprising: obtaining a request from a client system to view contents of a node in a tree model; receiving tree information for the node in the request; adding the tree information to the tree model; receiving a first cookie corresponding to the node and adding the node and the first cookie to a tree table; and receiving a second cookie corresponding to the node and comparing the second cookie with the first cookie to determine whether the node or one of the node's child nodes has changed.