Patent ID: 8412901

Claim:
A computer implemented method for automatically managing copies of source data volumes, the computer implemented method comprising: receiving, by a copy management agent via a communications network, a message from a storage subsystem, wherein the message indicates that target volume copies of source volumes are available for access; responsive to receiving, by the copy management agent, the message from the storage subsystem, accessing, by the copy management agent, the target volume copies of the source volumes using a storage area network; analyzing, by the copy management agent, metadata for the target volume copies to form analyzed metadata; determining, by the copy management agent, whether any of the target volume copies is a boot volume copy based on the analyzed metadata for the target volume copies; responsive to a determination that one of the target volume copies is a boot volume copy, directing, by the copy management agent via the communications network, a provisioning agent to provision a new host for the target volume copies; directing, by the copy management agent via the communications network, the storage subsystem to present the target volume copies to a storage area network port associated with the new host provisioned for the target volume copies; and directing, by the copy management agent, the provisioning agent to boot the new host provisioned for the target volume copies using the boot volume copy.