Patent ID: 7890527

Claim:
A method comprising: receiving a search request from a desktop search tool, wherein the desktop search tool is configured to transmit the search request, the desktop search tool is configured for use by an end user of a backup system, the desktop search tool is a third-party search tool that is not part of the backup system, and the third-party search tool is provided by a different software vendor than the backup system; searching a backup catalog in response to the search request, wherein the searching comprises transferring a portion of an index corresponding to the backup catalog into local cache corresponding to a backup search agent, wherein the index identifies content included in one or more files identified in the backup catalog, and the transferring is performed by the backup search agent, the searching comprises searching the portion of the index, and the backup catalog is maintained in a proprietary format by the backup system and identifies a respective time associated with each of a plurality of files; and providing a result of searching the backup catalog to the desktop search tool, wherein the receiving, the searching, and the providing are performed by the backup search agent and the backup search agent is coupled to communicate with the desktop search tool and the backup system, the backup search agent directly accesses the backup catalog and interprets information in the backup catalog, the backup search agent is registered for communication with the desktop search tool, and the backup search agent formats the result for the desktop search tool.