Streaming with Windows Media

© Nanda Ganesan, Ph.D.

Windows Media Technologies

• Windows Media Audio 9 Series• Windows Media Video 9 Series• Windows Media Encoder 9 Series• Windows Media Services 9 Series• Windows Media Player 9 Series• Windows Media Rights Manager 9 Series• Windows Media 9 Series SDK

Windows Media Link

• http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/

Windows Media Technologies (WMT)

• Windows Media Audio CODEC provides excellent quality at low bit rates

• Integration with other Microsoft products (Windows NT Server, Microsoft Site Server, Microsoft BackOffice)

• Digital rights management• Advanced Compression Technology

Broadcasting

Audio Comparison

Video Comparison

WMT Advantages

• Multiple Bit Rate and Multiple Language Support • Variable speed playback• Highly compressed audio and video• Audio CODEC is optimized for dial-up rates• Digital 5.1 surround sound CODEC • Lossless audio compression• Good scalability to larger audience• Live digital rights management• Support for Plug-in (C++ etc.)• (For further info: )

Multiple Bit Rate and Multiple Language Support

• With a single click of one file, the Windows Media Player 9 Series can automatically pick the best video size and audio quality to stream, based on the current connection speed – and it dynamically adapts during streaming.

• The player can automatically choose the preferred audio language, or the user can select or change languages on-the-fly during playback.

• (source: Microsoft)

WINDOWS MEDIA SERVICES

• Free with Windows 2000 Server • Relatively new• Proprietary ASF codec, MPEG4,

SMIL• Intelligent Streaming • Microsoft Media Server (MMS),

HTTP protocol

WINDOWS MEDIA TECHNOLOGIES

• Internet broadband-ready platform for the creation, distribution, and playback of digital media files.

• Newest version of the industry's leading digital media platform

COMPONENTS

• Windows Media Player• Windows Media Services• Windows Media Encoder• Windows Media Format• Windows Media SDK• Windows Media Rights Manager

WINDOWS MEDIA SERVICES

• Used to host media files to be streamed over the internet/intranet

• A digital media platform that offers employees, partners, and customers exceptional scalability, reliability, and quality

WINDOWS MEDIA SERVICES FEATURES

• Most Scalable– Uses Windows NT Server multithreading and

processor support to allow for maximum scalability. Pentium II system can support over 2000 28.8 Kbps connections

– Provides freely available tools for independent organizations to document concurrent streams delivered on one machine

Continued….

WINDOWS MEDIA SERVICES FEATURES

• Most Reliable – Tight integration between Windows Media

Services and Windows 2000 creates the most reliable streaming platform

– ZD Labs reported that Windows Media Services delivered 26 billion packets of data with 99.9999999% accuracy over more than 12 days of continuous streaming of over 2,400 broadband streams.

Continued….

WINDOWS MEDIA SERVICES FEATURES

• Highest Quality Output– Windows Media Services supports the industry-

leading Windows Media format– Only video codec that offers near-DVD quality

video at as low as 750 Kbps– The Windows Media audio format, which offers

CD-quality audio at 96 Kbps– The revolutionary Windows Media Screen codec,

which offers exceptional reproductions of computer screen movement at resolutions as high as 800 × 600 and data rates as low as 22 Kbps. Continued….

WINDOWS MEDIA SERVICES FEATURES

• Highest Return On Investment– Windows Media Services are built directly

into Windows 2000 Server, offering complete integration with corporate infrastructure

– No additional per-stream or per-seat licensing is required for Windows Media, thus minimizing deployment costs

STREAMING CONTENT SETUP

• Basic steps for creating and hosting streaming content using Windows Media Technologies:

1. Encoding Windows Media Files 2. Hosting Encoded Content

WINDOWS MEDIA FILES

• Format created by Microsoft for authoring, storing, editing, distributing, streaming, and playing multimedia content

• Designed specifically to stream the content over networks, like the Internet

• Highly flexible format that can be used for streaming audio, video, slide shows, and synchronized events

• Windows Media Format enables content to be delivered to end users as a continuous flow of data

ENCODING WINDOWS MEDIA FILES

• Windows Media file may be created from a .wav, .avi, or .mp3 file

• Windows Media file can also contain JPEG or .bmp image

• Source Files may be PowerPoint Presentation slides

ENCODING TOOLS

• Media On-Demand Producer (Microsoft)

• Windows Media Encoder• Windows Media Author• Free with Windows 2000 Server• SMIL creation• Convert .wav, .avi, or .mp3 to Windows

Media file format (.asf, .wma, .wmv)

CONTENT HOSTING

• Two Choices of hosting:

– On a Web Server

– On to Windows Media Server

WEB SERVER HOSTING

• Creating and hosting Windows Media metafiles - a metafile is needed for each Windows Media file.

• A Windows Media metafile is a small text file that contains the URL of a Windows Media file.

• Adding links to the metafiles from a Web page - each link points to the metafile for a Windows Media file instead of directly to the file.

• Windows Metafile Example:<ASX version="3"> <Entry> <ref HREF="Path/File.asf" /> </Entry></ASX>

WEB SERVER HOSTING

WEB SERVER HOSTING PROBLEMS

• Web Server not designed for streaming media files.

• Playback can be interrupted by periods of buffering.

• Cannot stream files that have been encoded with multiple bit rates.

WINDOWS MEDIA SERVER HOSTING

• If you require higher quality and better server resource utilization, it makes sense to host your content on a dedicated Windows Media server.

• Copy the Windows Media files to the ASFroot directory, and copy the metafiles to the Web server

WINDOWS MEDIA SERVER HOSTING

• Windows Media Services can stream two types of content: – Broadcast and – On-demand.

• Delivered to clients with a unicast connection

• Broadcast content can also be delivered with a multicast connection

CONTENT VIEWING

• Windows Media Player can play back audio and video content the same whether a file is on a Windows Media server, a Web server, a network server, or a local hard disk

• A Windows Media server is designed to handle busy, congested networks and low-bandwidth connections to client computers running Windows Media Player.

WINDOWS MEDIA PLAYER

ADVANTAGES• Stream through most firewalls• Indexing - provides end users with a means

of fast-forwarding and rewinding through a file that is being streamed

• Stream content with Digital Rights Management - Windows Media Rights Manager - distribute licensed digital media over the Internet with superior audio quality.

• Windows Media security - Security features can be used to limit access to media on a Windows Media server

ADVANTAGES

• Live Streaming - Playback of a broadcast stream is controlled at the point where the stream originates and includes live streaming

• Intelligent streaming - interaction between a Windows Media server and Windows Media Player to optimize the stream for the current available bandwidth

• Administering and logging - control how a Windows Media server manages live content and files and monitor overall system activity in real time, log files

ADVANTAGES

• Best-of-breed Multicast and Server Administration - easy-to-use server administration with extensive wizards that guide the user through procedures, such as setting up a multicast, monitoring a server, or switching between multiple live sources.

• Support for Advanced Applications and Pay-Per-View (PPV) - Includes pre-built and documented interfaces to Site Server Ad Server, Site Server Commerce Server, and Site Server Membership server. This functionality is the core of pay-per-view and dynamic ad-insertion applications of streaming media on the Internet.

THE FUTURE

• High bandwidth connections will make streaming more popular.

• Guaranteed Quality of Service over IP will improve streaming quality.

• The streaming model will be used more widely to provide multimedia content.

CONCLUSION

• Streaming media is the future of online entertainment.

• Low cost way to deliver interactive multimedia.

• Windows Media Services: a comprehensive suite for streaming.

RESOURCES

• http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/dnwmt/html/contcreation.asp?frame=true

• http://www.publicsource.apple.com/projects/streaming/

• http://www.cultivate-int.org/issue4/video/

RESOURCES

• http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/en/overview/default.asp

• http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/dnwmt/html/webserver.asp

• http://www.zdnet.com/sp/stories/issue/0,4537,2471928-4,00.html

RESOURCES

• http://www.nwfusion.com/research/streaming.html

• http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/en/support/faq_strm.asp

• http://www.broadcastengineering.com/html/2000/august/features/streamMedia_0800.htm

RESOURCES

• http://www.savetz.com/mbone/

• http://www.cis.ohio-state.edu/~jain/cis788-97/ip_multicast/

• http://www.real.com

• http://www.opensource.apple.com/projects/streaming

LOG ON

http://130.182.215.66/index.html

In the Linux Lab