Patent ID: 7567993

Claim:
A method for creating and using removable disk based copies of backup data, the method comprising: using a data protection application (DPA) for copying backup data to a virtual tape library wherein the DPA copies to the virtual tape library as if the DPA were copying to a physical tape library, the copying including: copying backup data to the virtual tape library as indicated by emulated data protection commands of the DPA, wherein the backup data is divided into user defined application specific subsets based on categories of data; and copying backup data simultaneously to both a predetermined set of disks and to a default storage area within the virtual tape library so that the backup data copied to the default storage area is maintained in the virtual tape library and the backup data copied to the predetermined set of disks is selectively removed for offsite storage; maintaining a log of a sequence of write operations, made by the DPA to both the predetermined set of disks and the default storage area within the virtual tape library, to playback the backup data without using the DPA, and to clone the backup data from the virtual tape library to the physical tape library without using the DPA, and managing data storage in the virtual tape library such that the DPA is not aware of decisions made regarding where in the virtual tape library the backup data is stored.