Patent ID: 7512621

Claim:
A method comprising: receiving a request at a current router in a current partition, wherein the current partition is one of a plurality of partitions, wherein data is partitioned into the plurality of partitions, wherein the plurality of partitions are divided into a plurality of levels, wherein a current level comprises the current partition and at least one other of the plurality of partitions, wherein the levels are ordered by creation times of the levels, from a newest level to an oldest level, and wherein the request comprises a key and a value for the key, wherein the key identifies a field in a record in the data, and wherein each of the plurality of partitions comprises a respective router; determining whether the value exists in the field in the current partition, wherein the current router in the current partition performs the determining whether the value exists in the field in the current partition; if the value does exist in the field in the current partition, moving the record with the value in the field from the current partition to a next-newer partition if a next-newer router in the next-newer partition sent the request, and deleting the record from the current partition, wherein the current router in the current partition performs the moving the record and the deleting the record, and wherein a next-newer level of the next-newer partition has a next-newer creation time that is next-newer than a current creation time of the current level of the current partition; and if the value does not exist in the field in the current partition sending a message from the current partition to a next-older router in a next-older partition in a next-older level, wherein the next-older level has a next-older creation time that is next-older than the current creation time of the current level of the current partition, wherein the message instructs the next-older router in the next-older partition to move the record with the value in the field from the next-older partition to the current partition.