Patent ID: 8099402

Claim:
A distributed system for content storage and access, the system comprising: an access platform, connected, via a first network, to a storage platform comprising at least a first storage component, the access platform comprising one or multiple access components, where the access platform is to provide a plurality of access services including: an administrative service to: receive, via a second network, that is different from the first network, an upload request, initiated by a first user, the upload request being associated with a first item of content, where the upload request includes a first set of attributes that characterize one or more operational objectives, of the first item of content, and the first item of content, and identify a characteristic of the upload request; a content management service to: determine, based on the characteristic of the upload request, a specification of a data transfer operation to be executed in association with the first storage component, where the specification of the data transfer operation includes a description of a complete resource allocation arrangement and; where the content management service comprises: an upload service to: allocate, in response to the upload request, resources of the first storage component to determine a partial resource allocation arrangement, determine the complete resource allocation arrangement based on one or more of the first set of attributes, and commit the complete resource allocation arrangement according to the partial resource allocation arrangement, and an access service to: determine, based on the specification of the data transfer operation, whether to grant a request to access the first item of content, where the request to access the first item of content is received from a second user via a third network that is different from the first network and the second network, and where an execution of the data transfer operation includes elements of the first item of content being stored in respective elements of the allocated resources of the first storage component according to the complete resource allocation arrangement.