Abstract: A method, system, and program for use in a data processing system for sending private messages from a single electronic message. A plurality of recipients is identified for an electronic message. A number of different sections are designated within the electronic message for separate receipt by each of a number of recipients within the plurality of recipients. Responsive to an indication to send the electronic message, an electronic message is automatically generated for each of the number of recipients, wherein the message of a given recipient within the number of recipients excludes sections within the number of sections designated for other recipients within the number of recipients.

Abstract: A first frame deadline is calculated and attached to an I/O request for prioritizing and retrieving video data frames from a shared disk cluster. Disk adapters queue video data frame requests according to the deadline incorporated in the frame requests. Data frames are transmitted to a requesting end user utilizing the attached deadline time to schedule the frames according to a time priority. Alternatively, a “slack” time is computed and utilized to determine when the first frame and subsequent frames of the requested video data may be retrieved from disk and present in the video server's memory in order to avoid a visible delay in sending that frame to the end user.

Abstract: A method, system, and program for use in a data processing system for sending private messages from a single electronic message. A plurality of recipients is identified for an electronic message. A number of different sections are designated within the electronic message for separate receipt by each of a number of recipients within the plurality of recipients. Responsive to an indication to send the electronic message, an electronic message is automatically generated for each of the number of recipients, wherein the message of a given recipient within the number of recipients excludes sections within the number of sections designated for other recipients within the number of recipients.

Abstract: An audio-video broadcast apparatus has non-volatile data storage that contains a file which includes at least one of audio and video data. In addition, the audio-video broadcast apparatus has an audio-video server coupled to the non-volatile data storage. The audio-video server broadcasts contents of the file and causes the non-volatile storage to delete a portion of the file from the non-volatile storage prior to the audio-video server broadcasting all of the contents of the file. In this manner, the amount of required non-volatile storage may be greatly reduced.

Abstract: In a multimedia data stream system, deterministic response is provided by multimedia servers for VCR client commands, thereby ensuring the commands execute within a predetermined deterministic window of a base response time +/- a jitter j. A command is timestamped and blocked until within the determinstic response window, and then released from a queue. An I/O then issues to a decoder card in a time period less than 2j. Threads processing these commands run at elevated priority. Non-deterministic commands default to the high priority but priority of a thread receiving such a command is lowered before processing. The response time jitter is bound by high priority commands by issuing only non-blocking I/Os and limiting the number of concurrent SCSI bus commands.

Abstract: In order to increase the number of datastreams provided by a multimedia system, a cluster of clusters of multimedia A/V server subsystems is provided. Each cluster in turn is comprised of a plurality of A/V servers, a shared loop architecture plurality of data storage devices interconnected to the A/V servers whereby any storage device is substantially equally accessible by any of the servers in the cluster; and a highly available control server subsystem interconnected to the A/V servers and the data storage devices for controlling the A/V servers and the data storage devices. Each of the clusters is interconnected to a high speed switch for delivery of datastreams from the cluster to the end user. One of the control server subsystems also serves as a master control server assigning a request for a datastream to one of the clusters.

Abstract: Response time jitter for high priority commands in a multimedia datastreaming system is bounded by issuing only non-blocking I/Os and by limiting the number of concurrent SCSI bus commands. A device driver in the system bounds the maximum time a VCR command must wait after it is released from a VCR queue by limiting the number of I/Os on the bus to a predetermined number functionally related to the magnitude of jitter permitted in the deterministic response requirement, and the time required for each data I/O to be issued to the decoder card. The number is such that the I/Os may issue within the jitter time with enough time remaining for issuance of a high priority VCR I/O. By limiting the I/Os to a predetermined number, the I/Os issued are constrained to be non-blocking to avoid hanging the I/O scheduler when a deterministic hhigh priority command arrives.

Abstract: A system and method for delivering cost-reduced, low latency, wider variety video-on-demand for digitized motion pictures. Leader files stored in disk array are accessible quickly for viewing in response to the user's selection, thereby providing low latency time from the initial request to the viewing of the leader. The remainder of the digitized movie files are stored in a robotic tape library archive system having greater access time than disk array storage but at significantly reduced storage cost. During the viewing of the leader from the rapidly accessible disk array, the remainder of a selection is accessed at a slower rate on tape and transferred to disk for viewing seamlessly at conclusion of the leader. The hybrid rapidly accessible disk storage of leader and cost effective bulk storage on tape of the remainder of selections provides both low latency and significant storage cost reduction, thereby increasing the number of video selections which may be offered.