The present invention provides loosely-coupled cluster systems comprising a plurality of servers based on storage attached to the plurality of servers. Videos, or other assets, are automatically replicated within the server system to increase the number of concurrent play requests serviceable. The server systems can detect spikes in demand that may exceed the guaranteed number of concurrent play requests serviceable and dynamically transfer the high-in-demand or `hot` asset to servers in the cluster that do not have the video. Alternatively, instead of transferring the entire asset, varying length prefixes of the asset may be transferred depending on the availability of resources. The remainder of the asset is transferred in some embodiments on demand with sufficient buffering or other storage to guarantee playback to the user or subscriber according to the required quality of service (QOS).