Patent ID: 8150810

Claim:
A method comprising: periodically backing up a database portion of source data, wherein the source data comprises the database portion and a transaction log portion, the transaction log portion comprises two or more transaction logs, each of the two or more transaction log comprises changes to the database portion, the periodically backing up is performed at scheduled points in time of a backup schedule, and the periodically backing up to produces a plurality of partial backups; continuously backing up the transaction log portion of the source data, wherein the continuously backing up occurs in response to changes to the transaction log portion, the continuously backing up produces a replica of the transaction log portion, the replica of the transaction log portion comprises a plurality of replica transaction logs for various points in time the continuous backup is performed, and the plurality of replica transaction logs comprise a replica of each of the two or more transaction logs at each point in time the continuous backup is performed; creating a plurality of links to the replica of the transaction log portion for each of the periodic backups, wherein the creating of the plurality of links is performed in response to each of the periodic backups being performed, the creating of the plurality of links comprises determining a subset of the plurality of the replica transaction logs that were periodically backed up for each of the periodic backups, and each of the plurality of links points to a respective replica transaction log in the subset; and storing a plurality of full backups of the source data, wherein each of the plurality of the full backups of the source data comprises: one of the plurality of partial backups, wherein the one of the plurality of partial backups comprises content of the first portion of the source data at one of the points in time of the backup schedule, and a respective plurality of links to a respective subset of the plurality of the replica transaction logs, wherein the respective plurality of links were created in response to the periodic backup at the one of the points in time of the backup schedule.