A system for backing up and restoring information, comprising: at least one storage device (16a,16b,16n); a primary server for granting and denying a global lock to devices requesting access to the at least one storage device; and at least one secondary server (15a,15b,15n) characterised by: means for storing internal tables including information relating to storage in the at least one storage device (16a,16b,16n); means for requesting and receiving a global lock from the primary server after the global lock is granted by the primary server; means for checking its own internal tables to determine whether access to the at least one storage device (16a,16b,16n) can be granted, when the global lock is granted by the primary server; means for marking at least a portion of the at least one storage device (16a,16b,16n) as locked and storing corresponding information in its own internal tables, when it is determined that access to the at least one storage device (16a,16b,16n) can be granted; means for propagating the corresponding information to the primary server and any other secondary servers (15a,15b,15n) for storage in their own internal tables, indicating that the portion of the at least one storage device (16a,16b,16n) is locked; and means for releasing the global lock after the corresponding information is propagated to the any other secondary servers (15a,15b,15n), so that the global lock is available to any of the secondary servers (15a,15b,15n) or the primary server. at least one storage device (16a,16b,16n); a primary server for granting and denying a global lock to devices requesting access to the at least one storage device; and at least one secondary server (15a,15b,15n) characterised by: means for storing internal tables including information relating to storage in the at least one storage device (16a,16b,16n); means for requesting and receiving a global lock from the primary server after the global lock is granted by the primary server; means for checking its own internal tables to determine whether access to the at least one storage device (16a,16b,16n) can be granted, when the global lock is granted by the primary server; means for marking at least a portion of the at least one storage device (16a,16b,16n) as locked and storing corresponding information in its own internal tables, when it is determined that access to the at least one storage device (16a,16b,16n) can be granted; means for propagating the corresponding information to the primary server and any other secondary servers (15a,15b,15n) for storage in their own internal tables, indicating that the portion of the at least one storage device (16a,16b,16n) is locked; and means for releasing the global lock after the corresponding information is propagated to the any other secondary servers (15a,15b,15n), so that the global lock is available to any of the secondary servers (15a,15b,15n) or the primary server. means for storing internal tables including information relating to storage in the at least one storage device (16a,16b,16n); means for requesting and receiving a global lock from the primary server after the global lock is granted by the primary server; means for checking its own internal tables to determine whether access to the at least one storage device (16a,16b,16n) can be granted, when the global lock is granted by the primary server; means for marking at least a portion of the at least one storage device (16a,16b,16n) as locked and storing corresponding information in its own internal tables, when it is determined that access to the at least one storage device (16a,16b,16n) can be granted; means for propagating the corresponding information to the primary server and any other secondary servers (15a,15b,15n) for storage in their own internal tables, indicating that the portion of the at least one storage device (16a,16b,16n) is locked; and means for releasing the global lock after the corresponding information is propagated to the any other secondary servers (15a,15b,15n), so that the global lock is available to any of the secondary servers (15a,15b,15n) or the primary server.