The embodiments satisfy the need for a real-time search engine that
significantly reduces the cost of constructing a search engine index by
providing a method for creating a real-time search engine over the
Internet that provides a search response containing data object
descriptions and server descriptions of data objects that are currently
available for transfer from a provider server directly to a recipient
client in response to a recipient client search request. An exemplary
method of updating a search-engine index of a search engine serving a
plurality of servers is provided. The method comprising the steps of: a.
establishing a communication link between the search engine and a first
server, b. logging onto the search engine from the first server. The step
of logging onto the search engine comprises the steps of: i. uploading a
first video data object description of a first video data object from the
first server to the search-engine index, ii. uploading a first server
description from the first server to a server-description table within
the search-engine index, and iii. relating the first server description
to the first video data object description within the search-engine
index.