Patent ID: 7849266

Claim:
A method for grouping networked storage system components, the method comprising: associating with one or more computer processors a first group of clients and storage system components with a first storage policy which defines one or more retention storage preferences, wherein the retention storage preferences of the first storage policy are associated with one or more storage operations that are to be performed by at least one of the storage system components in the first group; associating with one or more computer processors a second group of clients and storage system components with a second storage policy which defines one or more retention storage preferences, wherein the retention storage preferences of the second storage policy are associated with one or more storage operations that are to be performed by the storage system components in the second group; reassigning at least a first client associated with the first group to both the first group and the second group, wherein the first client automatically inherits the second storage policy associated with the second group while retaining the storage policy associated with the first group, and in the event a first storage operation associated with the first storage policy conflicts with a second storage operation associated the second storage policy, the storage policy associated with a higher priority controls; and performing one or more storage operations associated with the storage policy with the higher priority.