Patent attributes
A method and system are disclosed for transparent backup to a hierarchical storage system. A data management application requests a backup operation, communicating the request using the Network Data Management Protocol with a tape server and a data server. The tape server generates a unique identifier for the data set. In addition, the tape server transfers the data set from the data server to the hierarchical storage system and sends the identifier to the data management application in response to the request. The identifier identifies the data set within the hierarchical storage system. In a certain embodiment, the tape server stores and manages the data set in locations transparent to the data management application. The tape server and data management application may be logically distinct. The data management application may access the data set through the tape server using the identifier.
