Patent ID: 8438136

Claim:
A computer-implemented method comprising: storing an archive on a first backup storage device, wherein the archive comprises a plurality of files copied from a primary storage device; storing a metadata object on the first backup storage device, wherein the metadata object comprises a set of catalog metadata describing the plurality of files stored in the archive, and wherein the metadata object is generated from a first backup catalog; copying the metadata object and the archive from the first backup storage device to a second backup storage device, wherein copying the metadata object and the archive comprises generating a replicated metadata object and a replicated archive stored on the second backup storage device; automatically detecting the replicated metadata object on the second backup storage device based on a name of the replicated metadata object, wherein the name of the replicated metadata object and a name of the replicated archive comprise a common substring indicating a relationship between the replicated metadata object and the replicated archive, and wherein the name of the replicated metadata object comprises an additional substring indicating that the replicated metadata object comprises catalog metadata; and importing the set of catalog metadata into a second backup catalog, wherein the imported set of catalog metadata is read from the replicated metadata object stored on the second backup storage device instead of from the replicated archive, wherein importing the set of catalog metadata comprises updating the second backup catalog to describe the plurality of files stored in the replicated archive on the second backup storage device, and wherein importing the set of catalog metadata is performed automatically in response to automatically detecting the additional substring in the name of the replicated metadata object on the second backup storage device.