Reducing a Backup Time of a Backup of Data Files

A method, in a data processing system, for reducing the backup time of data files from a memory, the method comprising:

• pre-staging, by a processor in the data processing system, the data files by:
• identifying, by the processor, the data files in the memory to be backed up to a backup storage system;
• sorting, by the processor, the data files by size, thereby forming a set of small data files and a set of large data files;
• and
• copying, by the processor, the set of small data files to a cache within the memory while leaving the set of large data files in a disk subsystem within the memory;
• and
• backing up, by the processor, the set of small data files from the cache and the set of large data files from the disk subsystem to a backup storage system, wherein a time required to backup the set of small data files from the cache is performed at a faster rate as compared to backing up the set of large data files from the disk subsystem due to a reduction in access time required to access each of the small data files.