Patent ID: 7016982

Claim:
A method for performing an extended copy operation of a physical drive reserved to a virtual controller, said method comprising: supplying a host computer; supplying an appliance, wherein said appliance is interconnected with said host computer; supplying an automated data storage library comprising a plurality of data storage devices, wherein said automated data storage library is interconnected with said appliance; providing a virtual controller comprising a drive image provider, a drive resource provider, a library image provider, and a library resource provider, wherein said drive image provider is disposed in said host computer, and wherein said drive resource provider is disposed in said appliance, and wherein said library image provider and said library resource provider are disposed in said data storage library; receiving by said virtual controller at least one extended copy command for copying from a device having extended copy capability; parsing by said virtual controller said at least one extended copy command; translating by said virtual controller said at least one extended copy command into at least one translated command; and sending said at least one translated command to a physical drive having extended copy capability.