A method for copying a logical volume in a data storage system, including forming a first logical volume having one or more logical partitions and storing data at a physical location associated with the one or more logical partitions. The method further includes receiving a first command to copy the first logical volume to a second logical volume, and responsively to the first command, assigning the one or more logical partitions to a meta-volume and linking the meta-volume to the first and second logical volumes. The method also includes receiving a second command to access the data in at least one of the first and second logical volumes, responsively to the second command, using a partition descriptor record associated with the meta-volume to identify the physical location, and providing access to the data at the physical location.