Abstract: A method of creating a synthetic backup set which can be used as a baseline for subsequent incremental backup or for the restoration of a data volume. The method includes copying a first data object from a first backup set to a memory media for storing the synthetic backup set, and copying a second data object from a second backup set to the memory media. The second data object is copied to the memory media when both the first and second backup sets are open for read access. In one embodiment, the first backup set data of data objects is stored on a first magnetic tape, and the second backup set data of data objects is stored on a second magnetic tape. When the second data object is copied to the memory media, the first and second magnetic tapes are simultaneously mounted on first and second tape drives, respectively.

Abstract: Synthesized backup set catalogs are created to more efficiently create synthetic full backups of a data volume or to more efficiently restore a data object of the data volume. In one embodiment, the synthesized backup set catalog comprises n entries corresponding to n data objects, respectively, of a data volume being backed up. The synthesized backup set catalog can be created with the creation of an incremental backup of the data volume. Each entry of the synthesized backup set catalog may contain a backup identification (ID), wherein each backup ID identifies at least one of two backup sets of the data volume.