[streaming] Re: streaming

[Benjamin PRACHT]

On Sat, Nov 13, 2004, Ronald Marsh, Ph.D. wrote :
> I am part of a team from the University of North Dakota that has undertaken 
> the task of webcasting streaming videos of astronomical events. We have 
> webcasted the Venus transit (June 2004) from India and the Oct. 2004 lunar 
> eclipse from the U.S. We are planning to webcast the April 2005 solar 
> eclipse from Costa Rica as well. To date, we have used Macromedia's system, 
> but due to license restrictions (200 logins), bandwidth limitations and a 
> very small budget we have decided that this is not the way to go. 
> Furthermore, we had 130,000+ hits on our last webcast and we expect 
> 500,000+ hits on the Costa Rica webcast. So we are now considering using 
> Videolan and I was wondering if you had any suggestions for someone new at 
> having to manage/configure such a system by themselves? For example:
> 
> 1. Should I pursue multicasting? What are the chances this will reach 
> viewers all over the world? Of course this is assuming I can get the stream 
> off campus in the first place.

Well, multicast is only available on a small part of the Internet called
the Mbone. This is mostly composed of universities. As a consequence,
multicast could be an option for some clients, but note only one set up,
if you want a more global audience...

> 
> 2. Or would I be better off using HTTP via a webserver (I am assuming that 
> is the intent of the HTTP protocol - I haven't tried this yet because the 
> Linux version of VLC doesn't seem to support it). I expect this will 
> GREATLY increase the bandwidth consumption, but I may be able to "send" the 
> signal to mirror sites and have them serve it to the public.
> 

True, VLC includes a http server for this kind of purposes. It should be
included in all the VLC packages... Having the main server sendiung the
stream to several mirrors, acting a proxy is a sensitive option indeed.

> Any suggests you have to offer will be greatly appreciated. Should Videolan 
> work we will continue to use it (for all future webcasts) and give credit 
> to your group on our website.
> 

Well, don't hesitate to ask if you have any further question...

-- 
BigBen

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