Abstract: A method of streaming remotely located content, performed at a client device, comprises: communicating with a plurality of servers each of which hosts multiple copies of the content, said copies being encoded at different respective bitrates and each being divided into a plurality of segments that are arranged according to a time sequence; and requesting a concurrent download of a set of segments from a group of download servers that is at least a subset of the plurality of servers; wherein respective segments in the set are downloaded from different servers in the group of download servers, said segments being consecutive in the time sequence.

Abstract: A first path for forwarding an I/O request from a host device to a disk in a disk array is identified. The first path includes two endpoints (a first initiator endpoint on the host device and a first target endpoint on the disk array) separated by a storage area network. In response to an indication that the first path is non-functional, a second path to the disk for the I/O request is identified as an alternative to the first path. The second path includes a second initiator endpoint and a second target endpoint and is identified by selecting a path from among those paths that have at least one endpoint that is different from the two endpoints of the first path.

Abstract: A first path for forwarding an I/O request from a host device to a disk in a disk array is identified. The first path includes two endpoints (a first initiator endpoint on the host device and a first target endpoint on the disk array) separated by a storage area network. In response to an indication that the first path is non-functional, a second path to the disk for the I/O request is identified as an alternative to the first path. The second path includes a second initiator endpoint and a second target endpoint and is identified by selecting a path from among those paths that have at least one endpoint that is different from the two endpoints of the first path.