Patent ID: 8341216

Claim:
A computer-implemented method for processing image files, comprising the steps of: providing a first computer connected to a computer network, the first computer having one or more image files stored thereon; providing a second computer connected to the computer network; calculating a first processing cost for the first computer to process the one or more image files stored thereon including estimating a first transfer cost for transferring the one or more image files from the first computer to the second computer; calculating a second processing cost for the second computer to process the one or more image files including estimating a second transfer cost for transferring a processed one or more of the image files from the second computer to the first computer; calculating a combined cost for the first transfer cost, the second processing cost, and the second transfer cost; if the combined cost is smaller than the first processing cost, then performing the steps of a) transferring the one or more image files from the first computer to the second computer; b) the second computer processing the one or more image files; and c) transferring the processed one or more of the image files from the second computer to the first computer; if the combined cost is larger or equal to the first processing cost, then performing the step of the first computer processing the one or more image files stored thereon; and repeatedly measuring an effective rate of image-file transfers over the computer network, wherein the step of calculating the combined cost is based on the step of repeatedly measuring the effective rate.