Patent ID: 8600940

Claim:
A system comprising: a first backup storage tier comprising a first backup server computer; and a second backup storage tier comprising a plurality of backup server computers, wherein each backup server computer in the second backup storage tier is configured to store files backed up from one or more client computers and to transmit the files to the first backup server computer for further storage; wherein the first backup server computer in the first backup storage tier is configured to: determine a group of backup data sources comprising two or more of the plurality of backup server computers in the second backup storage tier; concurrently backup data from each backup server computer of the group of backup data sources to a single storage device; calculate a first backup rate at which the data from the group of backup data sources is backed up to the single storage device; after said calculating the first backup rate, add a first additional backup server computer to the group of backup data sources; after said adding the first additional backup server computer, calculate a second backup rate at which data from the group of backup data sources is backed up to the single storage device; calculate a difference between the second backup rate and the first backup rate; and based on the difference between the second backup rate and the first backup rate, automatically modify a number of backup server computers in the group of backup data sources by either adding one or more backup server computers to the group of backup data sources or removing one or more backup server computers from the group of backup data sources.