Patent ID: 7146424

Claim:
In a file server system having multiple data servers connected to distribute data streams over a network, each data server supporting at least one storage device, wherein data files are distributed across the data servers and stored on each of the storage devices, the system maintaining a schedule for serving requested ones of the data streams, the schedule being segmented into slots to which data streams are assigned for coordinating service of the requested data streams, a method comprising the following steps: distributing the schedule among the data servers so that individual data servers view different portions of the schedule; receiving multiple requests to insert new data streams into the schedule, the schedule formed at least in part based on historical and future slots capable of accommodating data streams; queuing the request in a queue; examining the schedule to determine whether all of the queued requests can be inserted into the schedule under a policy that attempts to maximize distances between consecutively occupied slots and minimize contiguously occupieds slots; and wherein the receiving, queuing, and examining steps are performed locally at individual ones of the data servers.