1. A program storage device readable by machine, tangibly embodying a program of instructions executable by the machine to perform method steps for providing accelerated data storage and retrieval, said method steps comprising: receiving a data stream at an input data transmission rate which is greater than a data storage rate of a target storage device; compressing the data stream at a compression ratio which provides a data compression rate that is greater than the data storage rate; and storing the compressed data stream in the target storage device.