Patent Document ID: 7778183
Application ID: 11676631
Patent Flag: 1

Claim One:
1. A computer-implemented method for selecting at least one replication node from a plurality of eligible nodes in a network, the method comprising the steps of: constructing a multidimensional model that defines a multidimensional space, the multidimensional model including the eligible nodes, and each of the dimensions of the multidimensional model being a system characteristic; determining a data availability value for each of the eligible nodes; determining a cost of deploying each of at least two availability strategies to the eligible nodes; and selecting, by a processor, at least one of the eligible nodes for replication of data that is stored on a source node in the network, wherein the selecting step comprises selecting the eligible node whose: data availability value is determined to be highest among the eligible nodes whose cost of deploying does not exceed a specified maximum cost, or cost of deploying is determined to be lowest among the eligible nodes whose data availability value does not exceed a specified minimum data availability value.