ARCHIVING USING DATA OBTAINED DURING BACKUP OF PRIMARY STORAGE

1 . A method comprising:

reviewing metadata obtained during a backup of a plurality of files stored in one or more information stores of primary storage, wherein the metadata obtained during backup includes at least file size data and modification date data of each file of the plurality of files, wherein the backup comprises:

identifying a first set of one or more files from the plurality of files that have been modified since a previous backup date, wherein the previous backup date indicates a date when modifications to files in the one or more information stores were most recently copied to a secondary storage, and

storing identified modifications to the first set of one or more files in the secondary storage;

identifying a second set of one or more files that were last modified prior to a system archival date using the metadata obtained during backup;

verifying that copies of the second set of one or more files are located in the secondary storage;

removing the second set of one or more files from the one or more information stores; and

storing one or more identifiers in the one or more information stores indicating the location of the copies of the second set of one or more files in the secondary storage.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein removing the second set of one or more files and storing the one or more identifies occurs after the backup operation is complete.

3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein removing the second set of one or more files and storing the one or more identifies occurs for each file individually.

4 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising concurrently identifying primary storage usage data of each file of the plurality of files using the metadata obtained during backup.

5 . The method of claim 4 , further comprising generating a report of the identified primary usage data.

6 . The method of claim 5 , wherein the primary storage usage data comprises file size data, disk type data, and volume type data.

7 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the system archival date is based on at least one of a creation date, last access date, and last modify date of each file.

8 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the system archival date is based on the identity of at least one of a user of the file and the creator of each file.

9 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the system archival date is based on a rating of each file.

10 . A method comprising:

analyzing backup metadata of each file of a plurality of files stored in one or more information stores of primary storage, the backup metadata comprising metadata obtained during a backup of the plurality of files, wherein the backup includes copying at least a portion of one or more files from the plurality of files from primary storage to secondary storage,

wherein backup metadata of each file of the plurality of files is analyzed prior to analyzing backup metadata of a second file of the plurality of files, and wherein analyzing backup metadata of each file comprises:

determining whether the file was last modified prior to a system archival date using the backup metadata of the file, and

upon determining that the file was last modified prior to a system archival date, identifying the file as one of one or more files identified for archive operations;

removing the one or more files identified for archive operations from the one or more information stores; and

storing one or more identifiers in the one or more information stores indicating the location in the secondary storage of copies of the one or more files identified for archive operations.

11 . The method of claim 10 , wherein removing the one or more files identified for archive operations and storing the one or more identifies occurs after the backup operation is complete.

12 . The method of claim 10 , wherein removing the one or more files identified for archive operations, and storing the one or more identifies occurs for each file individually.

13 . The method of claim 10 , further comprising concurrently identifying primary storage usage data of each file of the plurality of files using the backup metadata.

14 . The method of claim 13 , further comprising generating a report of the identified primary usage data.

15 . The method of claim 14 , wherein the primary storage usage data comprises file size data, disk type data, and volume type data.

16 . A system comprising:

a primary storage system comprising at least a first information store, a plurality of files stored on the first information store, wherein the plurality of file include metadata;

a second information store comprising backup metadata including metadata obtained from the plurality of files during a backup of at least a first set of one or more files from the plurality of files;

a secondary storage system comprising a plurality of copies of the first set of one or more files stored in at least a third information store; and

a data agent executing on one or more processors and configured to:

identify a second set of one or more files from the plurality of files that were last modified prior to a system archival date using the backup metadata,

verify that copies of the second set of one or more files are located in the secondary storage system;

remove the second set of one or more files from the first information store; and

store one or more identifiers in the first information store indicating the location of the copies of the second set of one or more files in the secondary storage system.

17 . The system of claim 16 , wherein the data agent is configured to remove the one or more files identified for archive operations and store the one or more identifies occurs after the backup operation is complete.

18 . The system of claim 16 , wherein the data agent is configured to remove each file of the one or more files identified for archive operations and store an identifier prior to analyzing the backup metadata of another file.

19 . The system of claim 16 , wherein the data agent is configured to concurrently identify primary storage usage data of each file of the plurality of files using the backup metadata.