# chunked read() with optional ranges: the way read() is used here, we can't use the LENGTH, OFFSET feature of read()
    # so we need to use the initial seek() in combination with a limit by position
    my $chunk_size = $cnf->{chunk_size} || 1024;
    my $bytes_in = $cnf->{bytes_in} || 0;
    my $bytes_out= $cnf->{bytes_out};

    my $pos = $bytes_in;
    seek($fh,$bytes_in,0);
    while ( read( $fh, my $buffer, $chunk_size ) ) {
        $pos += length($chunk_size);

        if( defined($bytes_out) && $pos >= $bytes_out){
            # return bytes::substr($buffer, 0, ($chunk_size - ($pos - $bytes_out)) );       # make last chunk shorter
            print bytes::substr($buffer, 0, ($chunk_size - ($pos - $bytes_out)) );
            last;
        }else{
            # return $buffer;
            print $buffer;
        }
    }