Patent ID: 8909603

Claim:
A method executed by a storage device, comprising: determining information, including a duration of time for performing a backup operation for each of one or more objects; assigning a server tag to each of the one or more objects that identifies which server is the source of each of the one or more objects; ordering, in a time descending order based on the durations of time, the one or more objects to be backed up; determining a maximum number of objects from each server that can be backed up by multiple disk agents at the storage device concurrently during a period of time; assigning some of the one or more objects, according to the time descending order, to the multiple disk agents without exceeding the maximum number of objects; performing, during the period of time, a first backup operation of the assigned one or more objects to the storage device by using the multiple disk agents; and in response to a first disk agent from the multiple disk agents completing backup of an assigned object within the period of time while at least one other disk agent is still performing the first backup operation, assigning another object from objects that have not been assigned for the first backup operation to the first disk agent so that the first disk agent can perform a subsequent backup operation of the other assigned object within the period of time while the at least one other disk agent is still performing the first backup operation.