Patent ID: 7711700

Claim:
A system for managing data associated with a data storage component, wherein the data storage component is coupled to at least one computer, and stores data from one or more applications running on the computer, the system comprising: a data storage management component for managing data stored within the data storage component; a data classification component for associating classifications with the stored data managed by the data storage management component, wherein the classifications describe characteristics of the stored data that describe a data management state of the stored data; and a metabase associated with the data storage management component that stores metadata referring to the stored data managed by the data storage management component, wherein the metadata includes the associated classifications for the stored data, wherein at least the data storage management component or the data classification component is separate from the data storage component, and is configured to track interactions between the data storage component and the one or more applications running on the at least one computer, and wherein the data storage component comprises network attached storage, and wherein at least one of the data storage management component, the data classification component, and the metabase are specifically configured for use with the network attached storage and for communication with the network attached storage via an open network protocol designed to permit backups over heterogeneous networks.