Patent ID: 7941455

Claim:
A method comprising: receiving, at a distributed file system comprising one or more server machines, a command for a digital media file, the distributed file system storing portions of the digital media file across a plurality of distinct physical storage locations; comparing the command for the digital media file with a notification table of a notification system of the distributed file system; and wherein the notification table comprises, for a transcoding application to be notified of the command: a command field that matches the command; an application field that identifies the transcoding application to be notified of the command; and a scope field that identifies a scope of files on the distributed file system for which the transcoding application is to be notified; determining that one or more portions of the digital media file is within the scope of files for which the transcoding application is to be notified; and based at least in part on the determining, notifying the transcoding application of the command in response to the command being performed on the one or more portions of the digital media file; wherein the notifying the transcoding application causes transcoding to automatically begin on a portion of the digital media file.