Patent ID: 8755827

Claim:
A method comprising: at a gateway in data communication with a broadband network and a plurality of networks, communicating with one or more access devices over respective networks of the plurality of networks to identify data storage resources of the one or more access devices which are accessible over the respective networks of the plurality of networks, the data storage resources including storage devices in which data is stored by the gateway for subsequent access; storing information about the identified data storage resources of the one or more access devices in a database accessible by the gateway, the stored information including information about availability of any unused storage resources of the one or more access devices; at the gateway, collecting information over the respective networks about access devices which are wirelessly accessible over the respective networks and collecting information about stored multimedia information and media related services available on each access device; at the gateway, classifying the stored multimedia information based on one or more of a statistical characteristic, predefined data sequence, file header information, file extension and a filename, including classifying the stored multimedia information based on a speed of a storage medium, a cost of storage of the storage medium, an expected security of the storage medium and available storage capacity of the storage medium; and at the gateway, using the information stored in the database, selecting a portion of the identified data storage resources of the one or more access devices for storage or retrieval of the multimedia information and media related services.