Patent ID: 8103824

Claim:
A method for allocating streaming data in a heterogeneous storage system, comprising: configuring a computer system with a server in communication with storage media for receiving a continuous input stream of data, wherein said storage media includes at least two heterogeneous storage devices with each storage device having defining characteristics, said characteristics include a burn rate representing a rate at which data stored to a storage device loses its retention value, a demand counter representing a number of applications that can allocate data on the storage device, and a supply counter representing a total capacity of the storage device; sorting said storage devices in an order based upon said defined characteristics and maintaining a demand function of each of said storage devices; assigning the input stream of data to one of said storage devices based upon said defined characteristics of said storage devices, including a combination of the burn rate, the demand counter, and the supply counter, and a value of said input stream; and dynamically calculating the burn rate for each of said storage devices responsive to assignment of the input stream of data to one of said storage devices.