Patent ID: 7426568

Claim:
A method for storing data, comprising the steps of: (A) receiving a stream of data; (B) storing said stream of data as a file in a series of data clusters each comprising (i) a predecessor link, (ii) a data portion, and (iii) a successor link, wherein said predecessor links and said successor links are configured to minimize seek time between said data clusters during contiguous stream operations by moving directly from a first data cluster to a second data cluster in response to an address of said second data cluster being stored within said first data cluster; (C) storing said file in one or more read or write-over operations without altering said predecessor links and said successor links during said storing operation, wherein said method avoids a recovery procedure after a potential power interruptions; and (D) appending to said file during one or more write-append operations by writing to a second series of data clusters each comprising (i) a predecessor link, (ii) a data portion, and (iii) a successor link, wherein (a) said appending occurs without recording said successor links of said second series of data clusters when said file is in use and (b) said appending allows an append recovery to be performed on said file after said potential power interruption.