Patent ID: 7293134

Claim:
A method for use with first and second systems which are geographically remote from one another, wherein the first system includes a first pointer table and the second system includes a second pointer table, the method comprising: storing a first subset of data elements including a first data element of a dataset in the first system and storing a second subset of data elements of the dataset in the second system, wherein each data element of the first subset is different from each data element of the second subset; creating in the first pointer table first and second pointers for the first data element in response to the first data element being stored in the first system in which the first pointer directly points to the first data element and the second pointer directly points to the first pointer; and creating in the second pointer table a third pointer for the first data element in response to the first data element being stored in the first system in which the third pointer directly points to the second pointer.