Abstract: Systems, methods, and computer-readable memory media for performing various methods for verification of inode metadata are disclosed. This may be done, in various embodiments, by splitting the metadata for a given inode into two or more components. Each component may then be transmitted as an inode message from, for example, a data server to a backup server. Counters may be used to determine if all messages have been received for a group of inodes. Temporary data structures may be created dynamically to aid in the verification of the inode metadata. In one embodiment, received inode metadata is used to indicate the presence (e.g., in a catalog) of an invalid reference from a child inode to its parent inode. A metadata catalog may be created and used during the restore process to “browse” a portion of the backed up data.