Method and Apparatus for Distributed Data Replication

A method for converting original data into a replica data set comprising a plurality of unique replica fragments, said method comprising:

• performing first level encoding by encoding at least a portion of said original data at at least one network node to generate at least one first level intermediate encoded data block;
• transmitting said at least one first level intermediate encoded data block to at least one other network node;
• and
• performing second level encoding of said at least one first level intermediate encoded data block at said at least one other network node.

A system for converting original data into a replica data set comprising a plurality of unique replica fragments, said system comprising:

• a source node storing said original data set;
• a plurality of leaf nodes for storing said unique replica fragments;
• and
• a plurality of intermediate nodes;
• said source node, plurality of leaf nodes, and plurality of intermediate nodes logically configured as a multicast tree;
• said nodes configured to convert said original data into said unique replica fragments by performing distributed erasure encoding at a plurality of levels of said multicast tree.