A distributed storage architecture and tiered caching system are employed in a video-on-demand or streaming media application. An illustrative embodiment of a distributed storage architecture, based on block map caching and virtual file system stackable file system modules, includes a controller, a first computer and a second computer, first and second switches, and a storage device. The first computer includes a local file system and uses this to store asset files in the local file system on the first storage device. The first computer employs a process to create a block map for each asset file, the block map including information concerning boundaries where an asset file is stored on the first storage device.