Patent ID: 7440982

Claim:
A method for verifying stored data in a storage management system, the method comprising: accessing a first set of data in a first storage location; performing a first copy operation on the first set of data to generate a plurality of data chunks, wherein said performing the first copy operation for at least one of the plurality of data chunks further comprises: generating a payload of the at least one data chunk, wherein the payload comprises a second set of data associated with the first set of data in the first storage location, generating a header of the at least one data chunk, wherein the header comprises a first set of metadata generated as a product of the first copy operation on the first set of data and associated with the first set of data, the first set of metadata comprising information usable to extract the second set of data from the plurality of data chunks; transmitting at least a portion of the plurality of data chunks to a storage device, and storing the second set of data and the first set of metadata on the storage device; storing a copy of the first set of metadata in an index remote to said storage device; generating a second set of metadata associated with the second set of data stored on the storage device; comparing the first set of metadata in the index and the second set of metadata to verify whether or not inconsistencies exist between the first and second sets of data without accessing the first and second sets of data; preforming a second storage operation on the second set of data stored on the storage device, wherein said performing the second storage operation further comprises: generating a third set of data associated with the second set of data, generating a third set of metadata comprising information for being used to retrieve the third set of data, and storing the third set of data in a second location; and comparing the first set of metadata in the index with the third set of metadata to verify whether or not inconsistencies exist between the first and third sets of data.