Embodiments store transaction metadata in dedicated pools of allocated memory chunks. Portions of the pools of allocated memory chunks are dedicated to the respective apply slave processes that mine and process change records. Also, the pools of allocated memory chunks are anchored within the structure of a transaction log such that buffering and application of metadata for one transaction does not block required buffering and application of metadata for other transactions. The standby database system pre-processes transaction metadata in preparation for application of the metadata to invalidate appropriate portions of MF data. Further, embodiments divide the work of pre-processing invalidation records among the many apply slave processes that record the invalidation records. A garbage collection selects memory chunks for garbage collection in reverse order of how the chunks were allocated. Also, a deduplication algorithm ensures that typically only a single invalidation message per block is applied to invalidate MF data.