Patent ID: 8769139

Claim:
A method for providing media content, comprising: receiving a request from a client for a portion of a selected media file in a streaming server at a streaming tier in a multi-tiered architecture for media content storage and streaming; streaming said requested portion of said selected media file to said client directly from said streaming server if said selected media file is stored on said streaming server; and streaming said requested portion of said selected media file to said client from said streaming server by reverse proxy to at least one server of a storage tier in said multi-tiered architecture if said media file is not stored on said streaming server, wherein said streaming said requested portion of said selected media file to said client from said streaming server by reverse proxy to said at least one server of said storage tier comprises: sending said requested portion of said selected file received from said at least one server of said storage tier to said client by splicing a network connection between said streaming server and said at least one server of said storage tier with a network connection between said streaming server and said client through an operating system kernel of said streaming server.