Methods and apparatus for integrating media across a wide area network

1. A media system comprising:

a communication interface coupled to a first digital media server and a second digital media server over a wide area network;

a processing circuit configured to:

retrieve, via the communication interface, group information from a wide area network media service on the wide area network, the group information identifying a number of user devices configured to play media that belong to a particular group and a number of digital media servers that each user device within the respective group has permission to access;

determine from the group information whether the first digital media server and the second digital media server are from a same group in the plurality of groups; and

in response to determining that the first digital media server and the second media server are from the same group:

transmit a first request, to the first digital media server, for information about media items available from the first digital media server;

transmit a second request, to the second digital media server, for information about media items available from the second digital media server;

receive, from the first digital media server, a first list of the media items available from the first digital media server, wherein the first list comprises first metadata describing each of said media items available from the first digital media server and second metadata indicating storage locations of said media items available from the first digital media server;

receive, from the second digital media server, a second list of the media items available from the second digital media server, wherein the second list comprises third metadata describing each of said media items available from the second digital media server and fourth metadata indicating storage locations of said media items available from the second digital media server;

store, in one or more data structures, the first list and the second list;

create a third list of aggregated media available from said first and second digital media servers by extracting, from the one or more data structures, the first metadata and the third metadata;

generate for display the third list;

in response to receiving a user selection of a media item from the third list, search the second and fourth metadata in the one or more data structures to identify a given metadata that is associated with the selected media item;

determine a storage location of the selected media item indicated by the given metadata that is identified from the search of the second and fourth metadata; and

transmit a request for the selected media item to one of the first and second digital media servers based on the determined storage location.

2. The media system of claim 1 , wherein said selected media item is streamed from said first digital media server to the user device.

3. The media system of claim 1 , wherein the one of the first and second digital media servers is configured to transcode said selected media item from a first digital format to a second digital format.

4. The media system of claim 1 , wherein the processing circuit is further configured to initiate a copy operation for said selected media item.

5. The media system of claim 1 , wherein the first digital media server is configured to:

receive a first file containing a first media item and fifth metadata describing the first media item;

extract, from the first file, the fifth metadata;

receive a second file containing a second media item and sixth metadata describing the second media item;

extract, from the second file, the sixth metadata;

generate the first metadata based on the fifth metadata and the sixth metadata;

store the first media item in a first storage location and the second media item in a second storage location; and

generate the second metadata based on the first storage location and the second location.

6. The media system of claim 1 , wherein the first digital media server is configured to:

receive, from said processing circuit, the first request;

based on receiving the first request, retrieve, from a memory of the first digital media server, the first and the second metadata;

based on retrieving the first and the second metadata, generate the first list; and

transmit, to said processing circuit, the first list.

7. The media system of claim 1 , wherein the processing circuit is further configured to:

issue a discovery command over the wide area network, wherein the discovery command includes a query for an announce command from each of a plurality of digital media servers accessible over the wide area network;

receive a first announce command from the first digital media server;

receive a second announce command from the second digital media server; and

based on receiving the first announce command and the second announce command, create a fourth list of the plurality of digital media servers accessible over the wide area network, wherein the fourth list comprises the first digital media server and the second digital media server.

8. The media system of claim 7 , wherein the processing circuit is further configured to:

receive a bye-bye command from the first digital media server;

based on receiving the bye-bye command:

remove the first digital media server from the fourth list;

delete the first list from the data structure; and

based on deleting the first list from the data structure, update the third list based on the data structure.

9. The media system of claim 1 , further comprising a media device, coupled to said processing circuit, configured to play said selected media item.

10. A method comprising:

retrieving group information from a wide area network media service, the group information identifying a number of user devices configured to play media that belong to a particular group and a number of digital media servers that each user device within the respective group has permission to access;

determining from the group information whether a first digital media server and a second digital media server are from a same group in the plurality of groups; and

in response to determining that the first digital media server and the second media server are from the same group:

transmitting a first request, to the first digital media server over the wide area network, for information about media items available from the first digital media server;

transmitting a second request, to the second digital media server over the wide area network, for information about media items available from the second digital media server;

receiving, from the first digital media server, a first list of the media items available from the first digital media server, wherein the first list comprises first metadata describing each of said media items available from the first digital media server and second metadata indicating storage locations of said media items available from the first digital media server;

receiving, from the second digital media server, a second list of the media items available from the second digital media server, wherein the second list comprises third metadata describing each of said media items available from the second digital media server and fourth metadata indicating storage locations of said media items available from the second digital media server;

storing, in one or more data structures, the first list and the second list;

creating a third list of aggregated media available from said first and second digital media servers by extracting, from the one or more data structures, the first metadata and the third metadata;

generating for display the third list;

in response to receiving a user selection of a media item from the third list, searching the second and fourth metadata in the one or more data structures to identify a given metadata that is associated with the selected media item;

determining a storage location of the selected media item indicated by the given metadata that is identified from the search of the second and fourth metadata; and

transmitting a request for the selected media item to one of the first and second digital media servers based on the determined storage location.

11. The method of claim 10 , further comprising receiving a stream of the selected media item.

12. The method of claim 10 , wherein the one of the first and second digital media servers processes the request for the selected media item by transcoding said selected media item from a first digital format to a second digital format, the method further comprising receiving said selected media item in the second digital media format.

13. The method of claim 10 , further comprising initiating a copy operation for said selected media item.

14. The method of claim 10 , further comprising:

receiving a first file, at the first digital media server, containing a first media item and fifth metadata describing the first media item;

extracting, at the first digital media server from the first file, the fifth metadata;

receiving, at the first digital media server, a second file containing a second media item and sixth metadata describing the second media item;

extracting, at the first digital media server from the second file, the sixth metadata;

generating, at the first digital media server, the first metadata based on the fifth metadata and the sixth metadata;

storing, at the first digital media server, the first media item in a first storage location and the second media item in a second storage location; and

generating, at the first digital media server, the second metadata based on the first storage location and the second location.

15. The method of claim 10 , wherein the first digital media server processes the first request by:

retrieving, based on receiving the first request, from a memory of the first digital media server, the first and the second metadata;

based on retrieving the first and the second metadata, generating the first list; and

transmitting the first list over the wide area network.

16. The method of claim 10 , further comprising:

issuing a discovery command over the wide area network, wherein the discovery command includes a query for an announce command from each of a plurality of digital media servers accessible over the wide area network;

receiving a first announce command from the first digital media server;

receiving a second announce command from the second digital media server; and

based on receiving the first announce command and the second announce command, creating a fourth list of the plurality of digital media servers accessible over the wide area network, wherein the fourth list comprises the first digital media server and the second digital media server.

17. The method of claim 16 , further comprising:

receiving a bye-bye command from the first digital media server;

based on receiving the bye-bye command:

removing the first digital media server from the fourth list;

deleting the first list from the data structure; and

based on deleting the first list from the data structure, updating the third list based on the data structure.

18. The method of claim 10 , further comprising causing a media device to play said selected media item.