A method and apparatus provide streaming delivery of data such as media data (video, audio) using a non-streaming delivery mechanism such as HTTP along with server-side pacing of the delivery. An initial portion of the media data is preloaded to a client buffer in a bursting manner to minimize latency. The method may include client request verification, support for client self-pacing, and support for catch-up pacing reductions. A proxy server apparatus may also be used which employs both server-side and client-side pacing and may include caching and both cache and client preloading for minimized latency. A similar proxy server apparatus may be used to provide an efficient alternative to client polling for data from a polled data service, such as stock quotes etc., using streaming updates. The method may include support for stream modification through persistent client requests.