A method for determining a delay in a dynamic, event driven, checkpoint interval. In one embodiment, the method includes the steps of determining the number of network bits to be transferred; determining the target bit transfer rate; calculating the next cycle delay as the number of bits to be transferred divided by the target bit transfer rate. In another aspect, the invention relates to a method for delaying a checkpoint interval. In one embodiment, the method includes the steps of monitoring the transfer of a prior batch of network data and delaying a subsequent checkpoint until the transfer of a prior batch of network data has reached a certain predetermined level of completion. In another embodiment, the predetermined level of completion is 100%.