Disclosed is a method and
system for selectively restoring file-
level data from a
disk image backup. In embodiments, a
virtual machine backup may be performed by dividing a
virtual machine virtual disk file into a plurality of discrete fixed-sized data blocks sharing a common index file that is stored on a
backup medium, such as a hard drive, to form a backup set. The index file is referenced to determine which fixed-sized block contains volume information, such as a partition table, of the backed-up
virtual machine file. The individual blocks are processed as a virtual filesystem which is presented to an access module, which traverses the filesystem and provide access to individual files in the image backup to a
client process, the restore files may be delivered to the
client in a container file, which may be compressed to increase transfer speed. The container file may include
executable instructions for automatically restoring the files to a desired location.