SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR MINIMIZING DATA RECOVERY WINDOW

A computer-based system includes a backup server, a production server, a recovery agent that executes on the production server, a database on the production server, a backup database on the backup server, and a meta data file on the backup server. The meta data file includes file names, a file directory, and file attributes. The system is configured to copy the metadata file from the backup server to a production server. When the copying of the metadata file from the backup server to the production server is complete, and before or during a time period in which backup data is copied from the backup server to the production server, the system is configured to receive a request from the production server to restore a file from the backup server with a higher priority than other files on the backup server.