A system and method for data distribution and recovery, including a server that broadcasts data to a plurality of clients and a means for a client to identify and recover broadcast data that the client missed while it was off line. In a representative embodiment, the system includes a transfer server, a plurality of clients in communication with the transfer server, and an archive in communication with the transfer server and the plurality of clients. The transfer server receives data packets from a data source, uniquely identifies each data packet, and broadcasts the data packets to the plurality of clients and the archive. Each client receives the data broadcast from the transfer server, identifies missing data, and communicates with the archive to recover the missing data.