Patent ID: 8135676

Claim:
A method for backing up a plurality of data containers using a processor executable backup application, each data container having a plurality of fixed length records, comprising: creating a first backup data container, during a first backup operation, by copying the plurality of data containers from a first storage device to a second storage device; wherein the backup application creates the first backup container; creating an initial data structure corresponding to the first backup data container for storing a unique file identifier for each of the plurality of data containers and for storing an offset value of a last written record for each of the plurality of data containers; wherein a processor executable application that is different from the backup application generates the plurality of data containers and creates the initial data structure; continuously updating the initial data structure as records are frequently updated or added to the plurality of data containers after the first backup operation; wherein the application that adds or updates the records also directly updates the initial data structure; comparing the updated initial data structure with the initial data structure to identify which records have been added and modified since the first backup operation; wherein the offset value is used to determine if any record was updated or added since the first backup operation; and the backup application compares the updated initial data structure with the initial data structure to ascertain which records were added or modified without performing a block by block comparison; and performing a second backup operation by copying the records that were added and modified since the first backup operation; wherein the backup application performs the second backup application.