Application level support for selectively accessing files in cloud-based storage

A non-transitory storage medium having stored therein computer-executable instructions which, when executed by one or more hardware processors, creates a data backup by performing the following:

• receiving, at a datacenter, an incremental backup from a client, wherein any new and modified blocks of the incremental backup are received at the datacenter from the client in an encrypted form;
• storing the incremental backup at the datacenter;
• creating a table of contents relating to the incremental backup;
• identifying differences between the incremental backup and a dataset previously stored at the datacenter;
• identifying and recording offsets imposed by any new or modified blocks present in the incremental backup;
• using the offsets to identify respective data ranges in the incremental backup for any new and modified blocks, and recording the data ranges, wherein, for one of the new or modified blocks of the incremental backup, one of the offsets identifies a difference between an incremental backup data range that is associated with that block and a previously stored dataset data range that is associated with that block;
• creating a reference block for each block of the previously stored dataset that was not modified in the incremental backup;
• and
• storing the reference blocks at the datacenter in association with the incremental backup.

A physical device, wherein the physical device comprises:

• one or more hardware processors;
• and
• a non-transitory storage medium having stored therein computer-executable instructions which, when executed by one or more hardware processors, creates a data backup by performing the following:
• receiving, at a datacenter, an incremental backup from a client, wherein any new and modified blocks of the incremental backup are received at the datacenter from the client in an encrypted form;
• storing the incremental backup at the datacenter;
• creating a table of contents relating to the incremental backup;
• identifying differences between the incremental backup and a dataset previously stored at the datacenter;
• identifying and recording offsets imposed by any new or modified blocks present in the incremental backup;
• using the offsets to identify respective data ranges in the incremental backup for any new and modified blocks, and recording the data ranges, wherein, for one of the new or modified blocks of the incremental backup, one of the offsets identifies a difference between an incremental backup data range that is associated with that block and a previously stored dataset data range that is associated with that block;
• creating a reference block for each block of the previously stored dataset that was not modified in the incremental backup;
• and
• storing the reference blocks at the datacenter in association with the incremental backup.