A computer-implemented method of generating a list of K most frequently accessed ones of a plurality of data blocks in a database may include steps of selecting the number K; building the list of K blocks by storing an identification of and maintaining a running count for up to selected K ones of the data blocks by iteratively carrying out a single step for each of the plurality of data blocks, the single step being selected from an incrementing step to increment the count, a decrementing step to decrement the count, an adding step to add a data block to the list and to set a count of the added data block and a replacing step to replace an existing data block of the list with a new data block and to set a count of the new data block, and providing the list of K most frequently accessed blocks.