Patent ID: 7860907

Claim:
A method of storing data, comprising the steps of: storing a plurality of data streams that are indexed by a first hierarchical index; receiving instructions from a user to establish a virtual file system that defines a structure for a plurality of application files, each of which is either a virtual directory or a file, wherein: the information in each of said application files is contained in at least one data stream, the root directory of said virtual file system is defined by a first plurality of said data streams, said data streams forming a second hierarchical index, at least one of said files is defined by a second plurality of said data streams, wherein said data streams form a tree-like structure in which each of a plurality of parent data streams references at least one child data stream, said virtual file system is uniquely identified by the root node of said second hierarchical index, and said first plurality of data streams and said second plurality of data streams are stored together; receiving instructions to write data to or read data from said virtual file system; and modifying relevant data streams to reflect instructed manipulations to data presented to a user via the virtual file system.