diff --git a/lib/Simba/CA.pm b/lib/Simba/CA.pm
index 2924b40..c6624ec 100644
--- a/lib/Simba/CA.pm
+++ b/lib/Simba/CA.pm
@@ -455,19 +455,27 @@ sub get_last_session_id {
 
 =head2 finddup
 
-Find a duplicate of the current file in the database. This is useful if you
+Try to find a duplicate of the current file in the database and replace the 
+current file with a hardlink to it. This is useful if you
 have multiple copies of a file stored in different locations.
+The search starts from the newest session and continues into the past until
+either linking successful or we run out of duplicates.
+This is done because creating a hard link may not always be possible (duplicate is 
+on a different file system or has already reached the maximum link count)
+and it is more likely that we can link to new copies than to old ones.
 
 =cut
 
-sub finddup {
-    my ($self, $f) = @_;
+sub linkdup {
+    my ($self, $f, $backup_filename) = @_;
     my $sth = $self->{dbh}->prepare("select * from versions, files, sessions 
                                      where file_type=? and file_size=? and file_mtime=?
                                        and file_owner=? and file_group=? and file_acl=?
                                        and file_unix_bits=? 
                                        and checksum=? and online=1
-                                       and versions.file=files.id and versions.session=sessions.id");
+                                       and versions.file=files.id and versions.session=sessions.id
+                                     order by sessions.id desc
+                                    ");
     $sth->execute(
              $f->{t}, $f->{s}, $f->{m},
              $f->{o}, $f->{g}, $f->{acl},
@@ -483,8 +491,16 @@ sub finddup {
                 $st->gid            == $self->name2gid($f->{g}) &&
                 ($st->mode & 07777) == $self->acl2mode($f)
             ) {
-                $sth->finish();
-                return $oldfile;
+                rename($backup_filename, "$backup_filename.$$.simba_backup") or die "cannot save $backup_filename to $backup_filename.$$.simba_backup: $!";
+                if (link($oldfile, $backup_filename)) {
+                    $self->log(10, "linked (dup)");
+                    unlink("$backup_filename.$$.simba_backup") or die "cannot unlink $backup_filename.$$.simba_backup: $!";
+                    $sth->finish();
+                    return $oldfile;
+                } else {
+                    $self->log(5, "cannot link $oldfile to $backup_filename");
+                    rename("$backup_filename.$$.simba_backup", $backup_filename) or die "cannot restore $backup_filename from $backup_filename.$$.simba_backup: $!";
+                }
             }
         }
     }
@@ -505,71 +521,69 @@ sub store_file {
     my ($self, $f) = @_;
 
     if($self->present($f)) {
-        link("$self->{last_backup}/$f->{name}", "$self->{this_backup}/$f->{name}") or die; # XXX
-        $self->log(10, "linked");
-    } else {
-
-        # else request from da
-        unless ($self->{file_pid}) {
-            $self->{file_pid} = open2($self->{file_dfd}, $self->{file_cfd},
-                              "/usr/bin/ssh",
-                              "-l", "simba_da",
-                              $self->{ssh_id_file} ? ("-i", $self->{ssh_id_file}) : (),
-                              $self->{target}->{host}, "da");
-        }
-        $self->{file_cfd}->printflush("get $self->{target}->{dir}/$f->{name}\n");	# XXX - encode!
-        my $header = $self->{file_dfd}->getline; # this should be the same as $_ - check?
-        if ($header =~ /^data (.*)/) {
-            my $f2 = $self->parse($1);
-            my $backup_filename = "$self->{this_backup}/$f->{name}";
-            open(my $file_bfd, '>:raw', $backup_filename) or die "cannot open backup file $backup_filename: $!";
-            my $size = $f2->{s};
-            my $err;
-            my $sha1 = Digest::SHA1->new;
-
-            while ($size > 0) {
-                my $buffer;
-                my $rc = read($self->{file_dfd}, $buffer, min($size, $BUFSIZE));
-                if (!defined($rc)) {
-                    # I/O error
-                    $self->log(5, "error reading from data socket: $!");
-                    last;
-                } elsif ($rc == 0) {
-                    # premature EOF.
-                    $self->log(5, "unexpected EOF reading from data socket");
-                    last;
-                }
-                $file_bfd->print($buffer) or die "write to backup failed: $!";
-                $size -= length($buffer);
-                $sha1->add($buffer);
-            }
-            close($file_bfd) or die "write to backup failed: $!";
-            my $trailer = $self->{file_dfd}->getline; # should be empty line
-            $trailer = $self->{file_dfd}->getline; 
-            if ($trailer =~ /^fail /) {
-                $self->log(5, $trailer);
-            } elsif ($trailer =~ /^chk sha1 (\w+)/) {
-                my $checksum = $sha1->hexdigest;
-                if ($checksum ne $1) {
-                    $self->log(5, "checksum error\n");
-                }
-                $f->{checksum} = $checksum;
-            } else {
-                $self->log(5, "unexpected trailer $trailer\n");
-            }
-            my $oldfile = $self->finddup($f);
-            if ($oldfile) {
-                unlink($backup_filename) or die "cannot unlink $backup_filename: $!";
-                link($oldfile, $backup_filename) or die "cannot link $oldfile to $backup_filename: $!";
-                $self->log(10, "linked (dup)");
-            } else {
-                $self->setmeta($f);
-                $self->log(10, "stored");
-            }
+        if (link("$self->{last_backup}/$f->{name}", "$self->{this_backup}/$f->{name}")) {
+            $self->log(10, "linked");
+            return;
         } else {
-            $self->log(5, "unexpected header $header\n");
+            $self->log(5, "cannot link $self->{last_backup}/$f->{name} to $self->{this_backup}/$f->{name}: $!");
         }
     }
+
+    # else request from da
+    unless ($self->{file_pid}) {
+        $self->{file_pid} = open2($self->{file_dfd}, $self->{file_cfd},
+                          "/usr/bin/ssh",
+                          "-l", "simba_da",
+                          $self->{ssh_id_file} ? ("-i", $self->{ssh_id_file}) : (),
+                          $self->{target}->{host}, "da");
+    }
+    $self->{file_cfd}->printflush("get $self->{target}->{dir}/$f->{name}\n");	# XXX - encode!
+    my $header = $self->{file_dfd}->getline; # this should be the same as $_ - check?
+    if ($header =~ /^data (.*)/) {
+        my $f2 = $self->parse($1);
+        my $backup_filename = "$self->{this_backup}/$f->{name}";
+        open(my $file_bfd, '>:raw', $backup_filename) or die "cannot open backup file $backup_filename: $!";
+        my $size = $f2->{s};
+        my $err;
+        my $sha1 = Digest::SHA1->new;
+
+        while ($size > 0) {
+            my $buffer;
+            my $rc = read($self->{file_dfd}, $buffer, min($size, $BUFSIZE));
+            if (!defined($rc)) {
+                # I/O error
+                $self->log(5, "error reading from data socket: $!");
+                last;
+            } elsif ($rc == 0) {
+                # premature EOF.
+                $self->log(5, "unexpected EOF reading from data socket");
+                last;
+            }
+            $file_bfd->print($buffer) or die "write to backup failed: $!";
+            $size -= length($buffer);
+            $sha1->add($buffer);
+        }
+        close($file_bfd) or die "write to backup failed: $!";
+        my $trailer = $self->{file_dfd}->getline; # should be empty line
+        $trailer = $self->{file_dfd}->getline; 
+        if ($trailer =~ /^fail /) {
+            $self->log(5, $trailer);
+        } elsif ($trailer =~ /^chk sha1 (\w+)/) {
+            my $checksum = $sha1->hexdigest;
+            if ($checksum ne $1) {
+                $self->log(5, "checksum error\n");
+            }
+            $f->{checksum} = $checksum;
+        } else {
+            $self->log(5, "unexpected trailer $trailer\n");
+        }
+        unless ($self->linkdup($f, $backup_filename)) {
+            $self->setmeta($f);
+            $self->log(10, "stored");
+        }
+    } else {
+        $self->log(5, "unexpected header $header\n");
+    }
 }
 
 sub DESTROY {