Patent ID: 7793112

Claim:
A method of storing a plurality of digital assets in a computer system comprising a plurality of nodes coupled via at least one communication medium, the computer system making the plurality of digital assets accessible to at least one client, the computer system comprising a plurality of resources, the method comprising acts of: (A) storing each of the plurality of digital assets via at least one of the plurality of nodes according to a distribution scheme that provides distributed storage of the plurality of digital assets among the plurality of nodes, the distribution scheme enabling at least one of the plurality of digital assets to be stored in a manner that is not prearranged and is dependent upon current usage of at least one of the plurality of resources of the computer system when the at least one of the plurality of digital assets is stored, wherein the at least one of the plurality of digital assets comprises content, wherein the at least one of the plurality of digital assets is identified by the at least one client and the computer system via an identifier that is based, at least in part, on a cryptographic hash of at least some of the content of the at least one of the plurality of digital assets, and wherein the identifier is the only identifier that may be used to identify the digital asset in any communication between the computer system and the at least one client.