| CPC G06F 11/1461 (2013.01) [G06F 11/1453 (2013.01)] | 18 Claims |

|
1. A computer-implemented method of dynamically scheduling backup jobs in a data protection system, the method comprising:
receiving data from a plurality of backup clients for storage in a storage target in accordance with a defined backup policy;
determining a respective data change rate of the data from each backup client, as expressed as a number of bytes changed per unit of time, to produce a data change metric;
generating, in a core engine, a peak activity signal using the data change metric;
monitoring an activity spike status and target session limit signals from the storage target;
receiving, from the storage target, an indication of a current load condition of the storage target; and
using the peak activity signal to generate a signal to redirect transmission of the data to an alternate storage target if the current load condition exceeds a threshold value to prevent an overload of the storage target due to a spike in data change rates for the plurality of backup clients, wherein the alternate storage target that is not presently prone to the overload condition, or that comprises a higher performance or higher availability storage device.
|