A synchronized data transfer system (200) including storage processor nodes (103), a backbone communication switch 101, multiple titles subdivided into subchunks (113a) - (113e) and distributed across the nodes, a user process (207) executed on a first node (201), a transfer process (215) executed on a second node (203), and a management process (219) executed on a management node (205). The user process sends a timestamped read request to request a corresponding subchunk. The transfer process sends a message to the management process for each received read request, where each message identifies source and destination nodes. The management process broadcasts transmit commands to initiate sequential transmit periods, receives the messages, and selects from among the received messages to ensure that each node sends or receives only one subchunk during each transmit period. The management process sends a transmit request for each selected message, and the transfer process sends a subchunk identified by a transmit request in response to the transmit command.