Patent ID: 8762418

Claim:
A method of classifying stored objects comprising: for each of a plurality of objects to be stored in a storage system, a) associating metadata with the object, b) storing the metadata in a data storage system, c) using the metadata to create a prioritized set of classification recommendations for the object, wherein the classification recommendations of the prioritized set are arranged in a prioritized list in which the recommendations are ranked from a classification most associated with the object to a classification least associated with the object based on a classification score associated with each of the recommendations and wherein the classification score provides an assessment of the relevance of a particular recommendation to the object, d) storing the prioritized set of classification recommendations for the object, e) selecting one of the classification recommendations associated with the object to be used as the object classification in the system, f) re-determining the prioritized set of classification recommendations for the object in response to the occurrence of an event requiring reevaluation of the object using the metadata without directly accessing the object, and g) selecting one of the re-determined classification recommendations for the object to be used as the object classification in the system.