Architecture for filing variable-bit-rate (VBR) video data on zoned disks based on the character of the VBR data and the character of the zoned disk. A "constant read-time" approach is disclosed to determine the filing layout of data. In this invention, the distribution of the data is determined by the sequence of retrieving the data. A multistage graph is used to describe the structure of the filing architecture of this invention. The invention also provides a segmentation algorithm to reduce time and space complexities in the processing of VBR data.