Patent ID: 8370542

Claim:
A method for transferring data in a multi-tiered storage system, the method comprising: performing a first backup copy of data stored in a data source, wherein said performing of the first backup copy further comprises: dividing the data in the data source into at least a first portion of data and a second portion of data, the data comprising multiple file types, and transferring the first and second portions of data from the data source to a first storage medium and a second storage medium using a first data stream and a second data stream respectively to create the first backup copy of the data; identifying the multiple file types of data in the first and second portions of data; determining based at least upon the file types if the first portion of data and the second portion of data in the first backup copy can be combined; if the first portion of data and the second portion of data can be combined, performing a second backup copy of the first and second portions of data, wherein the second backup copy saves the first and second portions of data in a combined format, wherein the performing of the second backup copy comprises: transferring the first and second portions of the first backup copy of the data from the first and second storage mediums to a third storage medium by combining data streams from the first and second storage mediums, and storing on the third storage medium, the additional copies of the data by storing in a combined format, the first and second portions of the first backup copy to create the second backup copy; and restoring the first portion of data to the data source by retrieving the first portion of data from the combined format of the second backup copy.