Patent ID: 8918603

Claim:
A method for archiving files over a wide area network (WAN) coupling a source storage volume and at least one archive storage system comprising: archiving, by a file archiving program executing on a first server having access to the source storage volume, a first file from the source storage volume to the at least one archive storage system; storing, by the file archiving program, metadata in a registry of an operating system of the first server, the registry including a plurality of fields corresponding to a plurality of data types, the metadata comprising at least one identifier that the file archiving program can present to the at least one archive storage system to retrieve the first file from the at least one archive storage system across the WAN; exporting, by the file archiving program, the metadata from the registry of the operating system of the first server to the source storage volume, wherein the metadata is stored in the source storage volume; transferring at least some capabilities of the file archiving program for the source storage volume executing on the first server to a file archiving program executing on a second server when a performance problem with archiving additional files by the file archiving program executing on the first server from the source storage volume is detected automatically; and importing the metadata stored in the source storage volume to a second location on the second server, the second location accessible to the file archiving program on the second server.