Patent ID: 8667189

Claim:
A system for transferring data in a multi-tiered storage system, the system comprising: a data source comprising primary data stored in at least a first storage device, wherein the primary data in the first storage device is divided into at least a first portion of data associated with a first application having a first file type, and at least a second portion associated with a second application having a second file type; a media agent comprising computer hardware, the media agent configured to communicate with the data source; the media agent is further configured to: transfer the first portion of data in the first storage device to a second storage device with a first data stream and transfer the second portion of data in the first storage device to a third storage device with a second data stream respectively to create a first backup copy of the primary data stored in the first storage device; identify the first and second file types associated with the first and second portions of data in the first backup copy; determine based at least upon the first and second file types if the first portion of data and the second portion of data in the first backup copy can be combined; if the first portion of data and the second portion of data can be combined, the media agent is configured to create a second backup copy of the first and second portions of data that is ordered for subsequent restoration wherein the media agent performs the second backup copy at least in part by being configured to: order the first and second portions of data existing in the first backup copy based at least in part on the order of the first and second applications, and create the second backup copy by storing the ordered first and second portions of data on a fourth storage device in the combined format, wherein the first portion of data is restored to the data source by retrieving the first portion of data from the combined format of the second backup copy.