Patent ID: 7870218

Claim:
A method for improving utilization in a peer-to-peer network having a plurality of nodes, the method comprising: hosting one or more storage slots in each node in the peer-to-peer network; wherein: each node comprises a respective amount of physical storage capacity; each storage slot represents a predefined amount of storage capacity; each node hosts a number of storage slots representing a total amount of storage capacity greater than the node's physical storage capacity, wherein each node is allocated 2×N−1 virtual slots, where N equals the physical storage capacity of the node divided by the predefined amount of storage capacity of a storage slot; and at each node, a first portion of the storage slots host storage zones and any remaining storage slots are allocated as free slot reserve storage slots; the method further comprising: storing data in the storage slots hosting storage zones; and when a storage slot hosting a storage zone reaches a full capacity of the storage zone, splitting the data in the storage slot hosting the storage zone into a first and second portion, converting a free slot reserve storage slot into a new storage slot hosting a storage zone, and transferring the second portion of the data to the new storage slot hosting the storage zone.