A method comprising: receiving a request from a source system in a network of interconnected computer system nodes (12, 14, 16, 18, 20, 22), to store at least one data item; determining, based on a parameter of the at least one data item, whether the at least one data item is to be forwarded between the computer system nodes without storing the forwarded at least one data item on any fixed storage medium in the network; determining an address of a computer system node (14, 16, 18, 20, 22) in the network available to receive the at least one data item, based on one or more of: pinging the network and determining which of the computer system nodes is available, and/or a type of the one or more data item, a level of encryption, a network traffic analysis, and/or available memory of the respective computer system nodes; sending a message to the source system with the address of the determined computer system node; forwarding the at least one data item to the determined computer system node in the network of interconnected computer system nodes, without storing the forwarded at least one data item on any fixed storage medium, the method further comprising: forwarding the at least one data item between the computer system nodes (14, 16, 18, 20, 22) without storing the forwarded at least one data item on any fixed storage medium in the network, the forwarded at least one data item being constantly routed within the network from computer system node (14, 16, 18, 20, 22) to computer system node (14, 16, 18, 20, 22), the forwarded at least one data item being available for retrieval if a request to retrieve the at least one data item is received, the forwarding being based on one or more of: pinging the network and determining which of the computer system nodes is available, and/or a type of the one or more data item, a level of encryption, a network traffic analysis, and/or available memory of the respective computer system nodes. receiving a request from a source system in a network of interconnected computer system nodes (12, 14, 16, 18, 20, 22), to store at least one data item; determining, based on a parameter of the at least one data item, whether the at least one data item is to be forwarded between the computer system nodes without storing the forwarded at least one data item on any fixed storage medium in the network; determining an address of a computer system node (14, 16, 18, 20, 22) in the network available to receive the at least one data item, based on one or more of: pinging the network and determining which of the computer system nodes is available, and/or a type of the one or more data item, a level of encryption, a network traffic analysis, and/or available memory of the respective computer system nodes; pinging the network and determining which of the computer system nodes is available, and/or a type of the one or more data item, a level of encryption, a network traffic analysis, and/or available memory of the respective computer system nodes; sending a message to the source system with the address of the determined computer system node; forwarding the at least one data item to the determined computer system node in the network of interconnected computer system nodes, without storing the forwarded at least one data item on any fixed storage medium, the method further comprising: forwarding the at least one data item between the computer system nodes (14, 16, 18, 20, 22) without storing the forwarded at least one data item on any fixed storage medium in the network, the forwarded at least one data item being constantly routed within the network from computer system node (14, 16, 18, 20, 22) to computer system node (14, 16, 18, 20, 22), the forwarded at least one data item being available for retrieval if a request to retrieve the at least one data item is received, the forwarding being based on one or more of: pinging the network and determining which of the computer system nodes is available, and/or a type of the one or more data item, a level of encryption, a network traffic analysis, and/or available memory of the respective computer system nodes. pinging the network and determining which of the computer system nodes is available, and/or a type of the one or more data item, a level of encryption, a network traffic analysis, and/or available memory of the respective computer system nodes.