Patent ID: 7831563

Claim:
A method of managing storage of a data item, the method comprising: at an active storage and retrieval system executed by a computer and coupled to storage tiers: storing storage policies that each are associated with a class of content, define at least an initial storage tier for storing a data item, and that specify, for each of multiple circumstances, a storage action to be performed on the data item when the circumstance occurs; associating a data item with a storage policy from the stored storage policies based on a class of content of the data item that matches the class of content of the storage policy; detecting, by an event listener, that a circumstance specified in the storage policy has occurred; in response to detecting that the circumstance specified in the storage policy has occurred, making a storage decision about the data item using the storage policy and based on a business value of the data item that is based on application layer factors of an event that has occurred on the data item, performance of a process step, a change in lifecycle of the data item, and a change in metadata about the data item; and in response to making the storage decision, performing a storage action on the data item.