diff --git a/daemons/ganeti-noded b/daemons/ganeti-noded
index 954010645386c84fb0a724e6b29d03e82ddb2620..92825bb42770655bd82493640ab1ea7b227a7d7a 100755
--- a/daemons/ganeti-noded
+++ b/daemons/ganeti-noded
@@ -97,11 +97,11 @@ class ServerObject(pb.Avatar):
     """Create a block device.
 
     """
-    bdev_s, size, on_primary, info = params
+    bdev_s, size, owner, on_primary, info = params
     bdev = objects.Disk.FromDict(bdev_s)
     if bdev is None:
       raise ValueError("can't unserialize data!")
-    return backend.CreateBlockDevice(bdev, size, on_primary, info)
+    return backend.CreateBlockDevice(bdev, size, owner, on_primary, info)
 
   @staticmethod
   def perspective_blockdev_remove(params):
@@ -125,11 +125,11 @@ class ServerObject(pb.Avatar):
     """Assemble a block device.
 
     """
-    bdev_s, on_primary = params
+    bdev_s, owner, on_primary = params
     bdev = objects.Disk.FromDict(bdev_s)
     if bdev is None:
       raise ValueError("can't unserialize data!")
-    return backend.AssembleBlockDevice(bdev, on_primary)
+    return backend.AssembleBlockDevice(bdev, owner, on_primary)
 
   @staticmethod
   def perspective_blockdev_shutdown(params):
diff --git a/lib/backend.py b/lib/backend.py
index 2719ab3c70920c981f8ed21e2153bdfb6f570aa9..69d75d80a856b207d33c98affbfe22c1eb2cb192 100644
--- a/lib/backend.py
+++ b/lib/backend.py
@@ -620,7 +620,7 @@ def RebootInstance(instance, reboot_type, extra_args):
   return True
 
 
-def CreateBlockDevice(disk, size, on_primary, info):
+def CreateBlockDevice(disk, size, owner, on_primary, info):
   """Creates a block device for an instance.
 
   Args:
@@ -638,7 +638,7 @@ def CreateBlockDevice(disk, size, on_primary, info):
   clist = []
   if disk.children:
     for child in disk.children:
-      crdev = _RecursiveAssembleBD(child, on_primary)
+      crdev = _RecursiveAssembleBD(child, owner, on_primary)
       if on_primary or disk.AssembleOnSecondary():
         # we need the children open in case the device itself has to
         # be assembled
@@ -664,6 +664,8 @@ def CreateBlockDevice(disk, size, on_primary, info):
     device.SetSyncSpeed(constants.SYNC_SPEED)
     if on_primary or disk.OpenOnSecondary():
       device.Open(force=True)
+    DevCacheManager.UpdateCache(device.dev_path, owner,
+                                on_primary, disk.iv_name)
 
   device.SetInfo(info)
 
@@ -686,7 +688,10 @@ def RemoveBlockDevice(disk):
     logger.Info("Can't attach to device %s in remove" % disk)
     rdev = None
   if rdev is not None:
+    r_path = rdev.dev_path
     result = rdev.Remove()
+    if result:
+      DevCacheManager.RemoveCache(r_path)
   else:
     result = True
   if disk.children:
@@ -695,7 +700,7 @@ def RemoveBlockDevice(disk):
   return result
 
 
-def _RecursiveAssembleBD(disk, as_primary):
+def _RecursiveAssembleBD(disk, owner, as_primary):
   """Activate a block device for an instance.
 
   This is run on the primary and secondary nodes for an instance.
@@ -715,7 +720,7 @@ def _RecursiveAssembleBD(disk, as_primary):
   children = []
   if disk.children:
     for chld_disk in disk.children:
-      children.append(_RecursiveAssembleBD(chld_disk, as_primary))
+      children.append(_RecursiveAssembleBD(chld_disk, owner, as_primary))
 
   if as_primary or disk.AssembleOnSecondary():
     r_dev = bdev.AttachOrAssemble(disk.dev_type, disk.physical_id, children)
@@ -725,12 +730,15 @@ def _RecursiveAssembleBD(disk, as_primary):
       r_dev.Open()
     else:
       r_dev.Close()
+    DevCacheManager.UpdateCache(r_dev.dev_path, owner,
+                                as_primary, disk.iv_name)
+
   else:
     result = True
   return result
 
 
-def AssembleBlockDevice(disk, as_primary):
+def AssembleBlockDevice(disk, owner, as_primary):
   """Activate a block device for an instance.
 
   This is a wrapper over _RecursiveAssembleBD.
@@ -740,7 +748,7 @@ def AssembleBlockDevice(disk, as_primary):
     True for secondary nodes
 
   """
-  result = _RecursiveAssembleBD(disk, as_primary)
+  result = _RecursiveAssembleBD(disk, owner, as_primary)
   if isinstance(result, bdev.BlockDev):
     result = result.dev_path
   return result
@@ -759,7 +767,10 @@ def ShutdownBlockDevice(disk):
   """
   r_dev = _RecursiveFindBD(disk)
   if r_dev is not None:
+    r_path = r_dev.dev_path
     result = r_dev.Shutdown()
+    if result:
+      DevCacheManager.RemoveCache(r_path)
   else:
     result = True
   if disk.children:
@@ -1356,7 +1367,16 @@ def RenameBlockDevices(devlist):
       result = False
       continue
     try:
+      old_rpath = dev.dev_path
       dev.Rename(unique_id)
+      new_rpath = dev.dev_path
+      if old_rpath != new_rpath:
+        DevCacheManager.RemoveCache(old_rpath)
+        # FIXME: we should add the new cache information here, like:
+        # DevCacheManager.UpdateCache(new_rpath, owner, ...)
+        # but we don't have the owner here - maybe parse from existing
+        # cache? for now, we only lose lvm data when we rename, which
+        # is less critical than DRBD or MD
     except errors.BlockDeviceError, err:
       logger.Error("Can't rename device '%s' to '%s': %s" %
                    (dev, unique_id, err))
@@ -1473,3 +1493,56 @@ class HooksRunner(object):
       rr.append(("%s/%s" % (subdir, relname), rrval, output))
 
     return rr
+
+
+class DevCacheManager(object):
+  """Simple class for managing a chache of block device information.
+
+  """
+  _DEV_PREFIX = "/dev/"
+  _ROOT_DIR = constants.BDEV_CACHE_DIR
+
+  @classmethod
+  def _ConvertPath(cls, dev_path):
+    """Converts a /dev/name path to the cache file name.
+
+    This replaces slashes with underscores and strips the /dev
+    prefix. It then returns the full path to the cache file
+
+    """
+    if dev_path.startswith(cls._DEV_PREFIX):
+      dev_path = dev_path[len(cls._DEV_PREFIX):]
+    dev_path = dev_path.replace("/", "_")
+    fpath = "%s/bdev_%s" % (cls._ROOT_DIR, dev_path)
+    return fpath
+
+  @classmethod
+  def UpdateCache(cls, dev_path, owner, on_primary, iv_name):
+    """Updates the cache information for a given device.
+
+    """
+    fpath = cls._ConvertPath(dev_path)
+    if on_primary:
+      state = "primary"
+    else:
+      state = "secondary"
+    if iv_name is None:
+      iv_name = "not_visible"
+    fdata = "%s %s %s\n" % (str(owner), state, iv_name)
+    try:
+      utils.WriteFile(fpath, data=fdata)
+    except EnvironmentError, err:
+      logger.Error("Can't update bdev cache for %s, error %s" %
+                   (dev_path, str(err)))
+
+  @classmethod
+  def RemoveCache(cls, dev_path):
+    """Remove data for a dev_path.
+
+    """
+    fpath = cls._ConvertPath(dev_path)
+    try:
+      utils.RemoveFile(fpath)
+    except EnvironmentError, err:
+      logger.Error("Can't update bdev cache for %s, error %s" %
+                   (dev_path, str(err)))
diff --git a/lib/cmdlib.py b/lib/cmdlib.py
index bcb29a39d3dbac1393648d7cb7e3169fe42a05ca..829c019139778d9f0059d2e2ecd58ce8d8a26f7c 100644
--- a/lib/cmdlib.py
+++ b/lib/cmdlib.py
@@ -1821,7 +1821,8 @@ def _AssembleInstanceDisks(instance, cfg, ignore_secondaries=False):
     for node, node_disk in inst_disk.ComputeNodeTree(instance.primary_node):
       cfg.SetDiskID(node_disk, node)
       is_primary = node == instance.primary_node
-      result = rpc.call_blockdev_assemble(node, node_disk, is_primary)
+      result = rpc.call_blockdev_assemble(node, node_disk,
+                                          instance.name, is_primary)
       if not result:
         logger.Error("could not prepare block device %s on node %s (is_pri"
                      "mary=%s)" % (inst_disk.iv_name, node, is_primary))
@@ -2560,7 +2561,7 @@ class LUFailoverInstance(LogicalUnit):
                                (instance.name, target_node))
 
 
-def _CreateBlockDevOnPrimary(cfg, node, device, info):
+def _CreateBlockDevOnPrimary(cfg, node, instance, device, info):
   """Create a tree of block devices on the primary node.
 
   This always creates all devices.
@@ -2568,11 +2569,12 @@ def _CreateBlockDevOnPrimary(cfg, node, device, info):
   """
   if device.children:
     for child in device.children:
-      if not _CreateBlockDevOnPrimary(cfg, node, child, info):
+      if not _CreateBlockDevOnPrimary(cfg, node, instance, child, info):
         return False
 
   cfg.SetDiskID(device, node)
-  new_id = rpc.call_blockdev_create(node, device, device.size, True, info)
+  new_id = rpc.call_blockdev_create(node, device, device.size,
+                                    instance.name, True, info)
   if not new_id:
     return False
   if device.physical_id is None:
@@ -2580,7 +2582,7 @@ def _CreateBlockDevOnPrimary(cfg, node, device, info):
   return True
 
 
-def _CreateBlockDevOnSecondary(cfg, node, device, force, info):
+def _CreateBlockDevOnSecondary(cfg, node, instance, device, force, info):
   """Create a tree of block devices on a secondary node.
 
   If this device type has to be created on secondaries, create it and
@@ -2593,13 +2595,15 @@ def _CreateBlockDevOnSecondary(cfg, node, device, force, info):
     force = True
   if device.children:
     for child in device.children:
-      if not _CreateBlockDevOnSecondary(cfg, node, child, force, info):
+      if not _CreateBlockDevOnSecondary(cfg, node, instance,
+                                        child, force, info):
         return False
 
   if not force:
     return True
   cfg.SetDiskID(device, node)
-  new_id = rpc.call_blockdev_create(node, device, device.size, False, info)
+  new_id = rpc.call_blockdev_create(node, device, device.size,
+                                    instance.name, False, info)
   if not new_id:
     return False
   if device.physical_id is None:
@@ -2754,13 +2758,14 @@ def _CreateDisks(cfg, instance):
               (device.iv_name, instance.name))
     #HARDCODE
     for secondary_node in instance.secondary_nodes:
-      if not _CreateBlockDevOnSecondary(cfg, secondary_node, device, False,
-                                        info):
+      if not _CreateBlockDevOnSecondary(cfg, secondary_node, instance,
+                                        device, False, info):
         logger.Error("failed to create volume %s (%s) on secondary node %s!" %
                      (device.iv_name, device, secondary_node))
         return False
     #HARDCODE
-    if not _CreateBlockDevOnPrimary(cfg, instance.primary_node, device, info):
+    if not _CreateBlockDevOnPrimary(cfg, instance.primary_node,
+                                    instance, device, info):
       logger.Error("failed to create volume %s on primary!" %
                    device.iv_name)
       return False
@@ -3206,14 +3211,16 @@ class LUAddMDDRBDComponent(LogicalUnit):
 
     logger.Info("adding new mirror component on secondary")
     #HARDCODE
-    if not _CreateBlockDevOnSecondary(self.cfg, remote_node, new_drbd, False,
+    if not _CreateBlockDevOnSecondary(self.cfg, remote_node, instance,
+                                      new_drbd, False,
                                       _GetInstanceInfoText(instance)):
       raise errors.OpExecError("Failed to create new component on secondary"
                                " node %s" % remote_node)
 
     logger.Info("adding new mirror component on primary")
     #HARDCODE
-    if not _CreateBlockDevOnPrimary(self.cfg, instance.primary_node, new_drbd,
+    if not _CreateBlockDevOnPrimary(self.cfg, instance.primary_node,
+                                    instance, new_drbd,
                                     _GetInstanceInfoText(instance)):
       # remove secondary dev
       self.cfg.SetDiskID(new_drbd, remote_node)
@@ -3444,7 +3451,8 @@ class LUReplaceDisks(LogicalUnit):
       logger.Info("adding new mirror component on secondary for %s" %
                   dev.iv_name)
       #HARDCODE
-      if not _CreateBlockDevOnSecondary(cfg, remote_node, new_drbd, False,
+      if not _CreateBlockDevOnSecondary(cfg, remote_node, instance,
+                                        new_drbd, False,
                                         _GetInstanceInfoText(instance)):
         raise errors.OpExecError("Failed to create new component on"
                                  " secondary node %s\n"
@@ -3453,7 +3461,8 @@ class LUReplaceDisks(LogicalUnit):
 
       logger.Info("adding new mirror component on primary")
       #HARDCODE
-      if not _CreateBlockDevOnPrimary(cfg, instance.primary_node, new_drbd,
+      if not _CreateBlockDevOnPrimary(cfg, instance.primary_node,
+                                      instance, new_drbd,
                                       _GetInstanceInfoText(instance)):
         # remove secondary dev
         cfg.SetDiskID(new_drbd, remote_node)
@@ -3558,7 +3567,7 @@ class LUReplaceDisks(LogicalUnit):
       # _Create...OnPrimary (which forces the creation), even if we
       # are talking about the secondary node
       for new_lv in new_lvs:
-        if not _CreateBlockDevOnPrimary(cfg, tgt_node, new_lv,
+        if not _CreateBlockDevOnPrimary(cfg, tgt_node, instance, new_lv,
                                         _GetInstanceInfoText(instance)):
           raise errors.OpExecError("Failed to create new LV named '%s' on"
                                    " node '%s'" %
@@ -3669,7 +3678,7 @@ class LUReplaceDisks(LogicalUnit):
       # _Create...OnPrimary (which forces the creation), even if we
       # are talking about the secondary node
       for new_lv in dev.children:
-        if not _CreateBlockDevOnPrimary(cfg, new_node, new_lv,
+        if not _CreateBlockDevOnPrimary(cfg, new_node, instance, new_lv,
                                         _GetInstanceInfoText(instance)):
           raise errors.OpExecError("Failed to create new LV named '%s' on"
                                    " node '%s'" %
@@ -3680,7 +3689,8 @@ class LUReplaceDisks(LogicalUnit):
                               logical_id=(pri_node, new_node,
                                           dev.logical_id[2]),
                               children=dev.children)
-      if not _CreateBlockDevOnSecondary(cfg, new_node, new_drbd, False,
+      if not _CreateBlockDevOnSecondary(cfg, new_node, instance,
+                                        new_drbd, False,
                                       _GetInstanceInfoText(instance)):
         raise errors.OpExecError("Failed to create new DRBD on"
                                  " node '%s'" % new_node)
diff --git a/lib/constants.py b/lib/constants.py
index 2a810b1098e46e615e95cf6c82309ca550b0cebf..8ade4b6805361c3fb64229d6a122fd63d1bc7e4e 100644
--- a/lib/constants.py
+++ b/lib/constants.py
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ from ganeti import _autoconf
 
 # various versions
 CONFIG_VERSION = 3
-PROTOCOL_VERSION = 4
+PROTOCOL_VERSION = 5
 RELEASE_VERSION = _autoconf.PACKAGE_VERSION
 OS_API_VERSION = 5
 EXPORT_VERSION = 0
@@ -33,6 +33,7 @@ EXPORT_VERSION = 0
 
 # file paths
 DATA_DIR = _autoconf.LOCALSTATEDIR + "/lib/ganeti"
+BDEV_CACHE_DIR = _autoconf.LOCALSTATEDIR + "/run/ganeti"
 CLUSTER_CONF_FILE = DATA_DIR + "/config.data"
 SSL_CERT_FILE = DATA_DIR + "/server.pem"
 WATCHER_STATEFILE = DATA_DIR + "/watcher.data"
diff --git a/lib/rpc.py b/lib/rpc.py
index 790ad5e404ccb0c71d544973b364611b86f31043..d84a85e042132f52d2038e23a024a1fccd87b92c 100644
--- a/lib/rpc.py
+++ b/lib/rpc.py
@@ -489,13 +489,13 @@ def call_version(node_list):
   return c.getresult()
 
 
-def call_blockdev_create(node, bdev, size, on_primary, info):
+def call_blockdev_create(node, bdev, size, owner, on_primary, info):
   """Request creation of a given block device.
 
   This is a single-node call.
 
   """
-  params = [bdev.ToDict(), size, on_primary, info]
+  params = [bdev.ToDict(), size, owner, on_primary, info]
   c = Client("blockdev_create", params)
   c.connect(node)
   c.run()
@@ -527,13 +527,13 @@ def call_blockdev_rename(node, devlist):
   return c.getresult().get(node, False)
 
 
-def call_blockdev_assemble(node, disk, on_primary):
+def call_blockdev_assemble(node, disk, owner, on_primary):
   """Request assembling of a given block device.
 
   This is a single-node call.
 
   """
-  params = [disk.ToDict(), on_primary]
+  params = [disk.ToDict(), owner, on_primary]
   c = Client("blockdev_assemble", params)
   c.connect(node)
   c.run()