Patent ID: 7631157

Claim:
A method for transferring data stored in a first storage system coupled to a first server, the method comprising: associating a plurality of storage locations on the first storage system to a plurality of emulated tape storage locations; associating a plurality of emulated tapes to the plurality of emulated storage tape locations to manage data stored in the first storage system as the plurality of emulated tapes; receiving from the first server an inventory request of media stored in the first storage system, and returning to the first server media status of the media, wherein the first server selects data for a data transfer request based on the media status of the media from the first storage system; and in response to the data transfer request from the first server with information specifying one of the plurality of emulated tapes, transmitting data associated with the specified emulated tape to a second storage system via a communication link between the first storage system and the second storage system, wherein the first storage system and the second storage system each comprise a disk-based storage device, and wherein the media status of the media includes information about a data storage area of the first storage system, an import/export element of the first storage system for data transfer with the second storage system, and volume tags of the emulated tapes in the first storage system.