Patent ID: 8615523

Claim:
A method for managing data associated with one or more data storage devices, wherein the data storage devices are coupled to multiple computers over a network, the method comprising: performing a first storage operation on a first data object, wherein performing the first storage operation results in— creating a second data object, wherein the second data object is a secondary copy of the first data object, and indexing content of the second data object; performing a second storage operation on the second data object, wherein the performance of the second storage operation results in— creating a third data object, wherein the third data object is a modified secondary copy of the first data object, and indexing content of the third data object; wherein the third data object is moved to an offline storage location, wherein the offline storage location is not immediately accessible to the computers over the network; maintaining an index of data associated with the data storage devices, wherein the data associated with the data storage devices includes— secondary copies of data objects, and offline copies of data objects, in response to receiving a user's query, searching the index to identify the third data object that is stored in the offline storage location and that matches search criteria provided by the user; and, providing information to the user regarding the identified third data object that is stored in the offline storage location.