Patent ID: 7143433

Claim:
A method for dynamically segmenting a digital data file resident within at least one digital data storage device of multiple digital data storage devices associated with a first computing system to facilitate transfer of the segmented digital data file from said first computing system to at least one of a plurality of second computing systems, whereby said method comprises the steps of a) requesting an identifier for said digital data file; b) requesting a range of locations within the multiple data storage devices where said digital data file is resident; c) calculating a new segment size list for said digital data file describing a fragmentation of said digital data file as a function of demand for all digital data files resident on said digital data storage devices, size of each digital data file of all digital data files, amount of retention space available on each of the plurality of digital data storage devices, and available bandwidth for communication with the plurality of second computing systems; d) if said digital data file has been previously segmented, comparing the new segment size list to an existing segment size list; e) if the existing segment size list provides a more facilitated transfer of said digital data file, transferring said digital data file to the second computing system according to said existing segment size list; f) if the new segment size list provides a more facilitated transfer of said digital file, creating a new file identifier for each new segment ascertained by the creating of the new segment size list, creating a new range of locations for each new segment of the digital data file to identify the location for each new segment, and storing the digital data file at said locations for each new segment; g) transferring each new segment of said digital data file to at least one of the second computing systems; and repeating steps a) through g) at each request for each digital data file.