An apparatus and method to manage redundant non-volatile storage (“NVS”) data backups in a data storage system comprising (n) clusters, wherein each cluster comprises a processor and a cache, and wherein each cache comprises a first NVS portion and a second NVS portion, wherein the method configures, for each value of (i), a primary NVS backup for an (i)th cluster, where that (i)th primary NVS backup comprises a first NVS portion of a cache disposed in an (i+1)th modulo (n) cluster, wherein (i) is greater than or equal to 0 and less than (n). The method further configures, for each value of (i), a secondary NVS backup for an (i)th cluster, where that (i)th secondary NVS backup comprises a second NVS portion of a cache disposed in an (i+2)th modulo (n) cluster.