Patent ID: 7757043

Claim:
A system for performing storage operations using storage operation cells, the system comprising: a first storage manager component in communication with a manager index; a first storage operation cell comprising, a first index indicating a location of first data on at least one storage device, and a second storage manager component directing data copy operations performed by the first storage operation cell; and a second storage operation cell hierarchically coupled to the first storage operation cell, the second storage operation cell comprising, a second index indicating a location of second data on the at least one storage device, and a third storage manager component directing data copy operations performed by the second storage operation cell; wherein the first storage manager component maintains the manager index comprising information received from the first and second indexes about the data copy operations performed by the first and second storage operation cells, wherein the manager index further comprises information indicative of hierarchical associations between the first storage operation cell and the second storage operation cell, and wherein the first storage manager component analyzes traffic patterns of the data copy operations in the first and second storage operation cells by consulting information about the data copy operations stored in the manager index to determine alternate methods of performing data copy operations wherein the first storage manager component directs data copy operations intended for the first storage operation cell to the second storage operation cell.