Patent ID: 8417908

Claim:
A data storage system comprising: a data multiplexing storage policy that defines the backup and multiplexing of data associated with multiple clients, wherein at least a first data stream associated with a first client and a second data stream associated with a second client are multiplexed onto the same storage media; a storage manager that stores the data multiplexing storage policy in association therewith, the storage manager executing in one or more computer processors, wherein the storage manager controls backup storage operations associated with backup of data from one or more clients to at least a first storage device; the storage manager configured to, based on the data multiplexing storage policy, backup data on the first client by directing the first data stream of data from a first client to a first storage media; the storage manager further configured to, based on the data multiplexing storage policy, backup data on the second client by directing the second data stream of data from the second client to the first storage media; and a receiver executing in one or more computer processors that receives the first and second data streams, wherein the receiver is configured to, based on the data multiplexing storage policy, multiplex at least portions of the first and second data streams to create a data chunk, wherein the multiplexer is further configured to add one or more identifiers to the data chunk that identifies in the data chunk, the portions of the first and second data streams in the data chunk and storing the data chunk on the first storage media.