Patent ID: 6865655

Claim:
A method for backing up data portions stored within a computerized device, the method comprising the steps of: discovering a plurality of data portions stored within the computerized device; and for each data portion in the plurality of data portions, performing the steps of: (i) producing an identification of a data portion stored within the computerized device; (ii) conveying, to a backup server, the identification of the data portion stored within the computerized device; (iii) receiving a transfer indication from the backup server, the transfer indication indicating whether the backup server already contains a backed-up copy of the data portion based on the identification; (iv) determining if the transfer indication indicates that the backup server already contains a copy of the data portion identified by the identification, and if not, transferring a copy of the data portion to the backup server, such that the computerized device only provides a copy of the data portion to the backup server if the backup server does not already have a copy of the data portion; and (v) maintaining a catalog containing a catalog entry for each instance of the data portion stored within the computerized device, the catalog entry containing metadata specifying attributes associated with each instance of the data portion stored within the computerized device including the identification of the data portion.