Patent ID: 8386430

Claim:
A network backup device implementing a partial data recovery-supporting file storage method comprising: a processor; a memory operably coupled to the processor; and a computer-readable medium operably coupled to the processor, the computer-readable medium comprising instructions that when executed by the processor cause the device to (a) allocate a block of the memory, the allocated block having a first predetermined memory size; (b) define a first cluster header including an identifier of a file received for backup from a second device and a sequence value; (c) write the defined first cluster header to the allocated block; (d) after (c), write a first cluster of a first file received for backup from the second device to the allocated block, wherein the first cluster has a second memory size smaller than the first predetermined memory size; (e) update the sequence value to generate a next sequence value; (f) identify a next cluster of the first file; (g) repeat (b)-(f) with the next cluster as the first cluster and with the next sequence value included as the sequence value in a corresponding next cluster header written to the allocated block until the first file has been written to the allocated block as a partial data recovery-supporting block of clusters with sequence values indicating the order in which the first file was subdivided into clusters; read the allocated block of memory to identify a plurality of clusters that include the identifier of the first file; and reconstruct the first file using the sequence values in the cluster headers associated with each of the identified plurality of clusters.