Patent ID: 6466980
Filing Date: 2002-10-15
Classification: G06F,G06Q,H04L

Abstract:
A system for dynamically controlling an amount of object resources in a distributed network of servers, each server having a capacity for storing and streaming said object resources to clients, said system comprising:a) means for predicting a demand for object resource; b) means for monitoring capacity of said servers in said network for storing and streaming a requested object resource; c) means for dynamically generating one or more transient replicas of said object resource based on said predicted demand for said object resource and said available capacity, a transient replica having an associated expiration deadline indicating a degree of transiency; and, d) control means for automatically temporarily placing transient object replicas at servers throughout said network when demand is predicted to increase and one of: extending an expiration deadline of a transient replica upon expiration of said deadline according to predicted demand, or deleting replicas when demand is predicted to decrease.