Three contiguous segments of video data are kept in video cache memory for streaming video data to a host application from a video file in data storage. For example, three buffers are allocated in the cache memory for each video stream, and at any given time during sequential access, a particular one of the three buffers is a middle buffer from which pre-fetched data is streamed to the host application. For forward or backward streaming, the buffers also include a backward buffer as well as a forward buffer on opposite sides of the middle buffer. In order to simplify the assembling of the buffers, a shift or rotation of the roles of the buffers and an asynchronous pre-fetch for continuance of a stream or for a switched direction of a stream is triggered by the cache state of the offset requested by the video application.