Patent ID: 7500055

Claim:
A method for reducing bus traversal in a media server comprising a host processor, at least one network interface, and a storage subsystem comprising one or more storage devices, the host processor and the at least one network interface being connected to a first input-output bus, the storage subsystem being connected to a second input-output bus, the first and second input-output buses being connected via a controller, the method comprising: receiving a request for a media asset via a network, said request being received by a network interface; receiving the request at the an adaptable cache at least partially inside said media server, said adaptable cache hot-swappably connected to the first input-output bus, said adaptable cache comprising a data interface, core logic configured to dynamically alter its operating characteristics by modification of a caching rule to account for asset request frequency without disconnecting said adaptable cache from the media server, and electronic storage media; processing the request by the adaptable cache, wherein if the requested media asset is found on the electronic storage media, the media asset is returned to the user via the first bus and wherein if the requested media asset is not found on the electronic storage media, the media asset is accessed from the storage subsystem and returned to the user via the second bus and first bus, wherein the adaptable cache: monitors requests for media assets; maintains a sorted list of pairs of overlapping requests for the same asset, said list identifying pairs of requests with the shortest intervals between their start times; determines whether select media assets should be cached; transfers said select media assets from said one or more storage devices to the electronic storage media; and, notifies at least one requesting application that the adaptable cache can accept future requests for said select media assets.