Patent ID: 7185048

Claim:
A backup processing method for backing up data to be used by a data-processing computer, the method comprising the steps of: selecting resources in a usable state from a plurality of resources necessary for backing up data stored in a disk storage system, the data to be used by the data-processing computer, the selected resources including a first storage unit to store at least some of the data in the disk storage system as backup-data and a second storage unit different from the first storage unit to store at least some of the data in the disk storage system as backup-data; selecting a first switch from a plurality of switches, the first switch in data communication with the disk storage system and with the first storage unit thereby providing a first path therebetween; selecting a second switch from the plurality of switches which is different from the first switch, the second switch in data communication with the disk storage system and with the second storage unit thereby defining a second path therebetween; executing backup processing by using the first path and a backup instruction command set having a plurality of backup commands, each backup command backing up a different portion of the data from the disk storage system to the first storage unit as backup data, every portion of the data having a corresponding backup command, the backup processing including executing one or more of the backup commands; detecting if a problem occurs in the first path based on a result of execution of one of the backup commands in the backup instruction command set; changing from the first path to the second path if a problem is detected; and continuing execution of the backup processing by using the second path and executing backup commands in the backup instruction command sets that have not yet been executed.