A storage controller uses a stripe-aligned metadata to describe data buffers in the storage controller's cache. A stripe buffer list and other metadata structures are aligned to stripe boundaries on storage media. Each stripe buffer list references data buffers in the cache memory of the storage controller that are dedicated to storing the data associated with a given disk stripe during a storage transaction. A stripe buffer descriptor table associates each stripe buffer list with the corresponding disk stripe through a virtual block address range and logical disk identifier. A stripe buffer list "present bits" table and a stripe buffer list "dirty bits" table maintain a record of the state of individual data buffers. With these metadata structures, data buffers in cache memory are effectively aligned with virtual disk stripes of the storage media, making for a simpler and more efficient storage transaction.