Patent ID: 7240241

Claim:
In a backup method for a storage control device that instructs a storage device to split a pair of volumes consisting of a primary volume and a copy volume thereof in the storage device and executes a backup operation from the copy volume of the split pair to a backup volume, the storage device including the pair consisting of the primary volume and the copy volume thereof and the backup volume for the copy volume, a backup method for a storage control device comprising: causing the storage control device to allocate a specified number of generations in the backup volume in the storage device for the copy volume; instructing the storage device to split the pair; executing a virus check on the copy volume of the pair; copying contents of the virus checked copy volume to the backup volume as a most recent generation backup for the copy volume if no virus is detected by the virus check; updating the generations in the backup volume for generations prior to the most recent generation; and instructing the storage device to re-link the split pair; performing an up-to-date virus check on each of the backup generations contained in the backup volume for a copy volume on which a virus was detected by the virus check; making a search, starting from one generation prior and working backwards, for a backup generation in which a virus is not detected by the up-to-date virus check for the copy volume in which the virus is detected; and using a backup generation retrieved by the search to restore the copy volume in which the virus was detected; determining whether the storage device is to continue operating if a virus is detected in the virus check; and disconnecting the copy volume in which the virus is detected and the paired primary volume from the storage device if the storage device is to continue operating.