Patent ID: 7895165

Claim:
A method, comprising: maintaining a server node in a networked computing environment, wherein the server node is coupled to a plurality of client nodes via a network, and wherein storage is coupled to the server node within the networked computing environment; storing database entries corresponding to objects of the plurality of client nodes in the server node, wherein the database entries include metadata corresponding to the objects; and selecting first and second client nodes that are two model nodes from the plurality of client nodes, wherein the two model nodes are selected according to a criterion such that objects to be backed up from the plurality of client nodes to the storage of the server node are more likely to have been backed up from the two model nodes than from any other client node of the plurality of client nodes, wherein the two model nodes are selected prior to receiving at the server node a request for storing an object corresponding to a third client node, wherein the two model nodes are updated more frequently with latest updates to an operating system and software applications in comparison to other client nodes in the plurality of client nodes, and wherein references directed at those objects that are stored in the server node by the two model nodes are included in the stored database entries.