Patent ID: 8713364

Claim:
A method for restoring data, comprising: receiving a request to recover an object comprising a plurality of portions to a client; determining, using a processor, a plurality of resources from which to recover the plurality of portions comprising the requested object based at least in part on a data index, wherein the plurality of resources includes a local resource and at least one remote resource; recovering at least a first portion of the requested object from the local resource, wherein the first portion of the requested object is associated with a first object stored at the local resource; recovering at least a second portion of the object from the at least one remote resources, wherein the second portion of the requested object is associated with a second object stored at the at least one remote resources; and reconstructing the requested object from at least the first and second portions of the requested object recovered respectively from the local resource and the at least one remote resource; wherein the determination of the plurality of resources, the recovery of portions of the requested object from the local and remote resources, and the reconstruction of the requested object are transparent to the client requesting recovery of the object.