Patent ID: 7865681

Claim:
A method of consolidating a copy stored in a plurality of storage systems in a system, the system comprising: a first storage system storing a first data, a second storage system storing a second data; a third storage system that is a target to receive a copy of the first data and the second data, said first, second and third storage systems being in communication with each other via a network; and a management computer containing a management table managing the first, second and third storage systems forming the system, the method comprising the steps of: sending a first instruction from the management computer to the first storage system instructing the first storage system to copy the first data to the third storage system, sending the first data to the third storage system from the first storage system, checking if the first data contains a referral information pointing to the second data, and sending, from the first storage system to the third storage system, a directory information instead of the referral information, if the first data contains the referral information.