Patent ID: 7962714

Claim:
A method which, when executed on a computer, stores data in a tiered storage system, the method comprising: accessing a storage policy associated with a tiered data storage system, wherein the storage policy defines a timing storage policy for copying source data from a data source to at least two storage media destinations in the tiered data storage system; dividing the source data into a plurality of portions, and assigning each of the plurality of portions a header by one or more media management components, wherein the header comprises the time information based on the timing storage policy, wherein the one or more media management components access and read the information to determine a time to perform one or more storage operations, and wherein the header further indicates at least a first storage media destination of a first type for a first auxiliary copy, and wherein the header further indicates a second storage media destination of a second type for a second auxiliary copy, wherein the second type is different than the first type; copying with the one or more media management components the plurality of portions, according to the time information in said headers, to the first storage media destination to produce the first auxiliary copy of the source data at the first storage media destination according to the first type; and copying with the one or more media management components the plurality of portions according to the time information in said headers from the first auxiliary copy to the second storage media destination to produce the second auxiliary copy of the source data at the second storage media destination according to the second type.