A method includes determining, by a secondary backup storage system, that a first backup operation has completed and produced a first protection copy of assets stored in a client storage array, where a primary backup storage system is used to obtain a snapshot-based backup from the client storage array and provide the snapshot-based backup to the secondary backup storage system, where the first protection copy is generated using the snapshot-based backup. The method includes identifying a second backup operation that was started before the first backup operation was started, determining that the second backup operation successfully produced a second protection copy, and generating linking metadata that links the first protection copy to the second protection copy in response to determining that the second backup operation successfully produced the second protection copy, where linking metadata is used to restore at least a portion of the assets during a restore operation.