Are There Any Streaming Video Experts Out There?

[jandafields]

I realize that TCH has no video streaming capabilities outside of html. That is fine.

 

Here are my questions:

 

1. If I put a 40kbps or 100kbps file on the server, how many people can view it at the same time?

 

2. I realize this could potentially eat a lot of bandwidth.

 

3. What is a good streaming-video company that could stream video and live video to many website visitors at the same time?

 

4. What is the preferred format? WMV, Quicktime, Real, etc?

 

5. What is the best way to handle dialup users and broadband users? The broadband users will obviously expect a higher quality stream than dialup. And still, there is 128k broadband, 256k, 512k, 768k, 1.5m, etc.

 

6. What else might I want to know about streaming video and live video?

 

Thanks in advance for your help.

[jandafields]

First of all, this is a duplicate post. Sorry, but the other is in the Open Discussion Forum. I posted it on March 31, and it has gotten zero replies, and is moving down... down... down...

 

So, I'm posting it here hoping that someone can help me.

 

This is the link to the original thread:

http://www.totalchoicehosting.com/forums/i...wtopic=9001&hl=

 

This is the contents of the original thread:

 

I realize that TCH has no video streaming capabilities outside of html. That is fine.

 

Here are my questions:

 

1. If I put a 40kbps or 100kbps file on the server, how many people can view it at the same time?

 

2. I realize this could potentially eat a lot of bandwidth.

 

3. What is a good streaming-video company that could stream video and live video to many website visitors at the same time?

 

4. What is the preferred format? WMV, Quicktime, Real, etc?

 

5. What is the best way to handle dialup users and broadband users? The broadband users will obviously expect a higher quality stream than dialup. And still, there is 128k broadband, 256k, 512k, 768k, 1.5m, etc.

 

6. What else might I want to know about streaming video and live video?

 

Thanks in advance for your help.

[TCH-Don]

I am sorry that you have not received any response.

I am guessing that not many on shared servers

have a lot of experience with the high demands of video streaming.

[TCH-Rob]

There is no need to duplicate the post in another forum, please refrain from doing so in the future. Many times an unanswered post just means we do not have an answer as we havent done it ourselves. I should have caught this after you posted the first time and at the verry least given some response that I wasnt sure but hopefully another family member had an answer. Forgive me for that.

[jandafields]

I am sorry. I won't do that anymore.

[TCH-Rob]

Dont be, you dont know until it happens. No big deal, more my fault for not giving any response in the first place.

[youneverknow]

You might want to contact the Shoutcast web site...they are experts on streaming and broadcasting http://shoutcast.com

 

youneverknow

[ThumpAZ]

I have done streaming in the past, but it was not on a shared box of any sort.

Streaming not only can eat a lot of bandwidth very fast, but can also be heavy on other resources of the server. I ended up moving to a dedicated streaming box for movies and other content of that type. It would bring the website to a crawl with too many users.

The files you speak of in regards to concurrent viewers will also depend on total file size, as the tax on the box will not just be the image rate, but also the open file. You may find yourself suspended if not too careful because of overloading the server and affecting other users.

I would imagine that 10-25 at a time at 100Kbps would not be too bad, as long as it isn't an hour long show.

I cannot recall any of the companies that I investigated long ago... and they have probably changed their offerings by now anyway... so I cannot guide you in that respect.

Most folks seem to like QT, as it is less overhead than a Microsoft-based system, and doesn't seem to come with many or any annoying helper programs (only one popup reminding you to upgrade at time of opening).

For Dialup, you should really force them to download the file versus stream it. They will not be happy with it unless they are desperate.

Plan for a 512K download speed for broadband users. As most folks have cable modems, this will more than suffice them. The folks with DSL or ISDN will also be able to get a quality movie as well.

 

Hopefully this helps a little bit. Most of my experience was on a dedicated box, so I am just not sure what is going to happen on a shared box.

[TangentIdea]

What I did for audio on my church's site is just put the audio files on as highly compressed MP3s, at a rate suitable for streaming. The file can download and play in real time, like it was streaming. Now, you can't jump to the middle of the sermon and have it play; you have to wait for it to load to that point. But hey, it works for what we need. If you want to see it, it's at http://www.paradisemc.org/sermon.shtml .

 

From a consumer point of view, I really like QuickTime for streaming video. The MPEG-4 format performs very nicely at low bitrates, even on dialup, and it pretty speedy to compress and decompress. FWIW.

 

-Ryan

[jandafields]

Thanks for all the replies!

I didn't know QT was so much better than MS and Real.

 

 

Now, about the mentioning of possible suspension...

 

Could I be suspended without any warning?

 

Would it be just this particular domain, or all of my clients?

 

At what "cpu percent" will I be suspended?

[ThumpAZ]

When you get suspended, it is typically for something other than streaming media. And it is without warning.

It is on a case-by-case basis and the account will be susp without warning, but with a notice to yourdefault mail addy (make sure it is set in cPanel to something other than your domain here). The reason it is without warning is because there is significant enough reason, and no assurety of prompt reply or compliance.

Since you are a reseller, it would include your entire account (clients included).

 

I think that a good talk with HeadGuru or TCH-Mike(not the J one) is in order to get yourself good and squared away. They are the ones who will be ultimately in charge of what happens.

 

Good Luck!