Method of Data Management for Efficiently Storing and Retrieving Data to Respond to User Access Requests

A method comprising:

• in response to receiving a request for a video program from a client, streaming an initial portion of the video program to the client from primary storage;
• contemporaneously with the streaming of the initial portion, retrieving a subsequent portion of the video program from secondary storage;
• and
• streaming the subsequent portion of the video program to the client upon completion of the streaming of the initial portion.

A method comprising:

• receiving requests for a plurality of titles from a plurality of clients;
• determining a pattern of the requests for the plurality of titles;
• based on the pattern, retrieving initial portions of the titles from secondary storage;
• and
• storing the retrieved initial portions into a primary storage device.

A method comprising:

• receiving requests for a plurality of titles from a plurality of clients;
• based on the requests for the plurality of titles, determining which titles of a library stored in a secondary storage are most likely to be requested by a client;
• determining a remaining capacity of a primary storage device;
• and
• removing, from the primary storage device, one or more assets related to titles not determined most likely to be requested by a client;
• retrieving from the secondary storage one or more assets of the titles determined most likely to be requested by a client;
• and
• storing, to the primary storage device, the retrieved one or more assets.

An apparatus comprising:

• a storage device;
• and
• a controller device configured to:
• in response to receiving a request for a video program from a client, stream an initial portion of the video program to the client from the storage device;
• contemporaneously with the streaming of the initial portion, retrieve a subsequent portion of the video program from secondary storage;
• and
• stream the subsequent portion of the video program to the client upon completion of the streaming of the initial portion.