Patent ID: 7660954

Claim:
A system for saving data originating from a host computer, the system comprising: backup equipment including: an input-output interface for exchanging data with the host computer, said input-output interface comprising a backup-reader inscriber emulator, wherein the host computer is one host from a heterogeneous set of host computers of at least two different types, said emulator configured to emulate one or more types of tape devices to enable a transparent dialogue between each of the different types of host computers and the backup equipment when saving data to the backup equipment from said each of the different types of host computers, at least one intermediate storage device, a tape reader-inscriber; and a processor for making transfers between the input-output interface or the intermediate storage device and the tape reader-inscriber, wherein said backup equipment stores a plurality of data portions from the host computer on a tape device, and, following each of said plurality of data portions on the tape device is a corresponding private data portion for said each data portion, said corresponding private data portion for said each data portion including private data about said each data portion and another corresponding private data portion associated with another data portion immediately preceding said each data portion on said tape device, wherein said private data of said corresponding private data portion for said each data portion includes a status code indicating a status of said each data portion, wherein said status code is a combination of bit indicators including an indicator indicating whether said each data portion is always copied on a particular type of tape; and wherein the system also comprises: a supervisor station, which is a separate component from the backup equipment and is connected to the backup equipment and the host, comprising a memory for saving information about records on a tape of the backup equipment, said supervisor station controlling the backup equipment as a function of instructions originating from the host computer, and a memory for using a database containing identification labels for backed up data.