Patent ID: 8229898

Claim:
A computer-implemented method, at least a portion of the method being performed by a single-instance storage system comprising at least one processor and configured to backup data from first and second protected systems, the method comprising: receiving a request to restore data of the first protected system; identifying a list that is maintained by the single-instance storage system to track deduplicated data that is from the first and second protected systems and stored in the single-instance storage system, wherein the list comprises bookkeeping information for the single-instance storage system; using the list to determine that at least a first portion of the data to be restored is located on the second protected system; determining that the second protected system has a faster connection with a separate recovery system than the single-instance storage system; selecting the second protected system based on the determining of the faster connection, instead of the single-instance storage system, to send the first portion of the data to the recovery system; instructing the second protected system to send at least the first portion of the data to the recovery system.