Method for seamless real-time splitting and concatenating of a data stream

A method for retrieving successive portions of a contiguous data stream from a plurality of storage devices, the data stream being composed of identifiable data units like packets, comprising the steps of

• retrieving a first portion of the data stream from a first storage device, and transmitting it on an output bus;
• retrieving in the first storage device a data set associated with the first portion of the data stream, the data set containing a first and a second identifier, the first identifier being suitable for identifying a second portion of the data stream, and the second identifier being an identifier for the last data unit contained in said first portion of the data stream;
• sending the first and second identifiers from the first storage device to the other of said plurality of storage devices;
• detecting in a second storage device that the second portion of the data stream identified by the received first identifier is available for retrieval from a storage medium;
• retrieving in the second storage device at least the beginning of said second portion of the data stream from a storage medium and storing it on another storage medium;
• detecting in the second storage device when said last data unit stored on the first storage medium is transmitted on the output connection, reading the beginning of the second portion of the data stream from said other storage medium and transmitting it on the output connection.

An apparatus for storing a data stream, the apparatus being a node in a decentralized network, the data stream being composed of identifiable data units, comprising

• a first storage medium being a memory for buffering a part of the received data stream;
• means for transferring data read from the first storage medium to the a second storage medium;
• means for receiving from another node in said decentralized network a request for storage, answering the request and receiving an identifier for a specific data unit, the means being also capable of sending a request, receiving a plurality of answers from different devices and based on the evaluation of said answers selecting one of the answering devices;
• means for detecting if the specified data unit is stored in the first storage medium;
• means for initiating, upon detection of the specified data unit, the transfer of data units subsequent to said specified data unit from the first to the second storage medium;
• and
• means for creating and storing a data set associated to the data stream, the data set containing an identifier for the data stream and identifier for the last data unit stored on the second storage medium.

An apparatus for retrieving a portion of a data stream, wherein the apparatus is a node in a decentralized network, and wherein the data stream is composed of identifiable data units, comprising

• means for reading data from a first storage medium;
• a second storage medium being a memory;
• means for transferring data read from the first storage medium to the second storage medium, wherein the means initially fills the second storage medium with the beginning of the data stream read from the first storage medium;
• means for receiving an identifier for a specific data unit;
• means for receiving data from a data connection;
• means for detecting if the specific data unit is received on the data connection and, upon said detection, initiating the transfer of data units from the second to the first storage medium.