US Patent 10095710 Presenting cloud based storage as a virtual synthetic

In one example, a method is provided for presenting cloud based storage as a virtual synthetic. The method begins when file system information is requested from a datacenter server. The requested file system information is then received at the requesting client from the datacenter server. Next, the received file system information is presented at the client in the form of a virtual file system interface that makes the file system information appear as a local file system to a user at the client, notwithstanding that the file system is not actually present at the client. Finally, user access at the client is enabled, by way of the file system interface, to data residing in the file system at the datacenter server, where the data is in the form of a virtual synthetic that includes respective portions of data from each of a plurality of backups residing at the datacenter.