Patent ID: 7680843

Claim:
A method comprising: receiving an archive request instruction, wherein: the archive request instruction relates to data from a primary data set, a first application interacts with the primary data set, the first application is executed on a first server, and the archive request instruction is compliant with an application programming interface for the first application; gathering application data from a secondary data set, wherein: the application data is configured for use by the first application, the secondary data set is separate from the primary data set, the secondary data set comprises data copied from the primary data set, the gathering is performed by a gathering circuit, and the gathering circuit is configured to obtain information from a plurality of types of secondary data sets; obtaining data from the gathered application data, wherein the obtained data is responsive to the archive request instruction; responding to the archive request instruction with the obtained data; receiving a modification instruction, wherein: the modification instruction is compliant with the application programming interface, and the modification instruction is related to the obtained data; and causing the modification instruction to be performed on the primary data set.