Patent ID: 8620136

Claim:
A method for providing video data recording in a network environment, comprising: receiving video data propagating in the network environment; maintaining the video data in a buffer having a predetermined size, wherein: the buffer is a circular buffer that is to be hashed and shared between a first end user and a second end user, both end users participating in a video session associated with the video data; the predetermined size of the buffer corresponds to a buffer timing recording preference of the first end user specifying a duration of video data to be maintained in the buffer, wherein the buffer timing recording preference of the first end user specifies a longer duration of video data than a duration of video data specified by the buffer timing recording preference of the second end user; generating meta-information associated with the video data while the video data is residing in the circular buffer; and receiving a recording request from one of the two end user participating in a video session associated with a video data, wherein the recording request triggers the video data to be recorded in the network environment remote from the end user by moving the video data from the circular buffer to another memory element that is more persistent than the circular buffer.