Patent ID: 7636761

Claim:
A method comprising: in a network of interconnected computer system nodes, receiving a request from a source system to store at least one data item; directing the at least one data item to a node; storing information about the at least one data item in a store associated with a central server; in response to the request from the source system, continuously forwarding the at least one data item and the store among the nodes in the network of interconnected computer system nodes without storing the forwarded at least one data item on any fixed storage medium in the network, the forwarded at least one data item being constantly routed within the network from node to node, and each of the forwarded at least one data item being available for retrieval if a request to retrieve the data is received, the continuously forwarding comprising: determining an address of a node available to receive the at least one data item and the store based on one or more factors; sending a message to the source system with the address of a specific node for the source system to forward the at least one data item or the store; detecting a presence of the at least one data item or the store at the specific node; and forwarding the at least one data item or the store to another node in the network of interconnected computer system nodes without storing the forwarded at least one data item on any fixed storage medium.