Patent ID: 8380673

Claim:
A method for migrating a file from a first server to a second server, comprising: providing, at the first server, a first file and a snapshot file of the first file which the first server manages, and a first block copy management table, the first block copy management table storing first block addresses in a first volume where data of the first file is stored, first flag information indicating whether differential data is stored in a first differential volume for each of the first block addresses, and a second block address in the first differential volume where the differential data is stored for each of the first block addresses; providing, at the second server, a second block copy management table, the second block copy management table storing third block addresses in a second volume where data of a second file is stored, second flag information indicating whether differential data is stored in a second differential volume for each of the third block addresses, and a fourth block address in the second differential volume where the differential data is stored for each of the third block addresses; copying the first file to the second volume; performing a copy process of the snapshot file of the first file by referring to i node information in the snapshot file for each of the first block addresses, wherein the copy process comprises: judging if the first flag information is set to a predetermined value in the first block copy management table; reading differential data from the first differential volume based on the first block copy management table if the first flag information is set to said predetermined value; copying the differential data from the first differential volume to the second differential volume; setting the second flag information in the second block copy management table for one of the third block addresses corresponding to the first block address; writing a block address where the copied differential data is stored in the second differential volume as the fourth block address for the one of the third block addresses corresponding to the first block address, reconstructing the i node information for the snapshot file of the first file in the second differential volume of the second server; and updating the third block addresses stored in the second block copy management table for the i node information for the snapshot file of the first file reconstructed in the second differential volume.