Patent ID: 7941622

Claim:
A method for copying data to multiple remote sites, the method comprising: transmitting data from a plurality of first volumes in a primary storage system to a back-up volume provided in a secondary storage system, the primary storage system being located at a primary site and the secondary storage system being located at a first remote site from the primary site; copying the data from each of the first volumes in the primary storage system to a corresponding second volume of a plurality of second volumes in the primary storage system, wherein for each second volume of the plurality of second volumes a point in time (PiT) of each second volume is used as a reference point of time for the copying, and each second volume is provided with a first time consistent image of the corresponding first volume with respect to its reference point of time; and for each of the second volumes, transferring the data therefrom to a corresponding third volume in a ternary storage system at a second remote site via media for copying the data, the corresponding third volume being provided with a second time consistent image of each second volume which is substantially the same as the first time consistent image provided in each second volume, wherein the copying step includes: retrieving a first timestamp associated with first data; and for each of the second volumes, shadow copying the first data from the corresponding first volume to the second volume as second data if the first timestamp indicates a time that is prior to the reference point of time of the second volume.