Abstract: In an embodiment of the invention, an apparatus and method provides a backup procedure with transparent load balancing. The apparatus and method perform acts including: performing a preamble phase in order to determine if a file will be backed up from an agent to a portal; and applying a chunking policy on the file, wherein the chunking policy comprises performing chunking of the file on an agent, performing chunking of the file on the portal, or transmitting the file to the portal without chunking.

Abstract: In an embodiment of the invention, an apparatus and method provides a backup procedure with transparent load balancing. The apparatus and method perform acts including: performing a preamble phase in order to determine if a file will be backed up from an agent to a portal; and applying a chunking policy on the file, wherein the chunking policy comprises performing chunking of the file on an agent, performing chunking of the file on the portal, or transmitting the file to the portal without chunking.

Abstract: A management system monitors the storage system for changes in predefined attributes and issues event messages upon detection. A storage collector communicating with the management system responds to the event messages by selectively filtering those pertinent to the billing function. The storage collector generates usage event records that are then further processed by accessing the management system to ascertain if there are any related data objects associated with the object that gave rise to the attribute change. Such additional information is then associated with the usage event and stored for later use by a billing application.