Patent ID: 7873805

Claim:
A nearline disaster recovery storage system, said system comprising: a first site having a primary server for supporting an operating system and at least one application to run on at least one client; a data set generated at said first site, manipulated by said first site, and stored on said primary server; a backup data set duplicative of said data set, generated and stored at said first site; a backup site geographically separated from said first site, said backup site comprising: a connection to said first site via which said backup data set can be transported from said first site to said backup site after generation of said backup data set; a storage facility for said backup data; and a secondary server; and a virtual application server, said virtual application server comprising said operating system, said at least one application, and a means for allowing remote access to said virtual application server; wherein upon receipt of said backup data set, and prior to a disaster event, said backup data set is restored onto said secondary server in native format so that a server at said backup site can manipulate said backup data set as said primary server manipulates said data set; and wherein after said backup data set is restored and in the event said primary server becomes unusable, said virtual application server can attach to said backup data set.