Windows Server 2008 R2 Unleashed (292 page)

version of SQL Server 2005 if Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 will be used exten-

sively by the organization and contain mission-critical data.

. Keep the Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 Server up to date with all patches and

updates of Windows Server 2008 R2 to reduce the risk of attacks or malfunctions.

. Use the full SharePoint Server 2007 application when you need to add enterprise-

level tools to Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 sites, or to add other features as

35

summarized in this chapter.

. Document libraries are building blocks of Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 sites and

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provide tools such as document versioning, checkout and check-in features, alerts,

and RSS feed capabilities.

. Lists are similar to Excel spreadsheets in many ways, and are customized in Windows

SharePoint Services 3.0 to offer calendaring, task management, discussion group, and

other types of functionality.

. The Office 2007 products offer extensive integration with Windows SharePoint

Services 3.0 sites. However, Office 2003 products can also be used with Windows

SharePoint Services 3.0 sites, but the integration is more limited.

. Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 offers different tiers of management tools for the

farm administrator, top-level site administrator, and site administrator. Design tools

can be used from the browser for many page layout and formatting tasks.

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CHAPTER 36

IN THIS CHAPTER

Windows Media Services
. Understanding Windows Media

Services

. Installing Windows Media

Services

. Using Windows Media Services

for Real-Time Live Broadcasts

. Broadcasting Stored Single Files

Digital content has taken society to fascinating new

. Hosting a Directory of Videos

levels. It’s not surprising as today’s digital media solutions

for On-Demand Playback

allow individuals and organizations alike to use various

. Combining Multiple Files for a

devices to capture, download, present, and stream digital

Combined Single Broadcast

content in a matter of minutes.

. Understanding Windows Media

The move away from conventional forms of communica-

Encoder

tion has placed a heavy demand on companies like

. Broadcasting a Live Event

Microsoft to introduce products that not only give people

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and organizations more efficient ways to communicate, but

. Capturing Audio or Video for

also provide a mechanism to publish digital content while

Future Playback

also reducing costs.

. Using Other Windows Media

Encoder Options

As a result, Microsoft introduced Windows Media Services—

a free, optional component for Windows Server 2008 R2

that takes full advantage of the Internet and intranet to

stream live or on-demand digital content. Microsoft also

provides two major tools, both of which are freely down-

loadable, that perform media conversion (Windows Media

Encoder) as well as content customization for presentations.

Organizations, small and large, are seeing the impact the

streaming media solution has on communication and their

pockets. It has improved communication by ensuring infor-

mation broadcast and rebroadcast is consistent. For

example, employees in an organization’s most remote loca-

tion can watch a presentation live. Equally important, the

presentation remains available on demand for those who

missed the live presentation or wanted to review it. As this

example demonstrates, everyone receives the same informa-

tion. Employee downtime has also significantly decreased.

Employees are traveling less for company meetings, career

development workshops, and other events. The benefits do

not stop there as organizations are saving money by taking

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CHAPTER 36

Windows Media Services

advantage of their existing networks. By building upon what they already have instead of

investing in other products, including satellite or television, organizations are seeing finan-

cial benefits. Not to mention some organizations’ business models, such as YouTube, bring

in millions every year by offering digital media publishing services to their consumers.

This chapter covers both the server component of Windows Media Services as well as

the downloadable tools that provide editing and publishing support for users and

administrators.

Understanding Windows Media Services

Windows Media Services is no longer a built-in component on the Windows Server 2008

R2 operating system. As such, it will be necessary for those working with the Windows

Server 2008 R2 family of operating systems to obtain Windows Media Services directly

from the Microsoft website. It will also be necessary to install and configure the Windows

Media Services role on a Windows Server 2008 R2 system. Windows Media Services

enables the administrators of an organization to organize video and audio files to be

published to other users. The publishing function sets the bandwidth that will be used

during the file distribution, controls the number of users accessing audio and video files at

the same time, and manages the overall bandwidth demands of the Windows Media

Services functions.

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By properly configuring and optimizing media services functions, an organization can

minimize the excessive demands of media services distribution over the network. The

decisions that need to be made include whether distribution will be:

. Real-time live broadcasts

. Single broadcasts at a time

. Multiple files combined to a single broadcast

. Multiple files in a single directory for selective broadcasting

The various publishing options are highlighted throughout this chapter as best practices,

tips, and tricks on configuring and implementing the publishing services to meet various

organizational needs.

Features Included with Windows Media Services Running on

Windows Server 2008 R2

Windows Media Services running on Windows Server 2008 R2 offers a plethora of features

and functionality:

.
Cache/Proxy Management—
To bolster presentation experience, a plug-in can be

used to provide cache or reverse proxy functionality of digital media content. This

new feature reduces network infrastructure costs by decreasing the amount of band-

width required and used.

.
Server Core installation—
IT professionals have the option of installing the

Windows Media Services components on a Server Core installation of Windows

Understanding Windows Media Services

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Server 2008 R2. A Server Core installation of Windows Server 2008 R2 is a scaled-

down version of the installation offering specific administrative roles without the

management interfaces and tools, which reduces management and surface area

attacks.

NOTE

Review Chapter 3, “Installing Windows Server 2008 R2 and Server Core,” for more

information on Windows Server 2008 R2 Server Core installation.

.
Multicast for Silverlight—
Windows Media Services can now deliver multicast

streams to Silverlight with the new Silverlight Multicast plug-in.

.
Single Installation Package—
Unlike Windows Server 2008, a single package is

offered to make the deployment of Windows Media Server on Windows Server 2008

R2 much easier.

.
Tighter Integration with Hyper-V—
Streaming, performance, and manageability

has improved when running Windows Media Services on Hyper-V on Windows

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Server 2008 R2.

.
Advanced Fast Start—
This new feature associated with Windows Server 2008 R2

36

leverages the maximum available bandwidth allowed during the initial connection

to a stream, resulting in end users being able to see content as soon as they connect.

As soon as the playback begins, bandwidth is throttled back to a regular amount.

.
Play While Archiving—
This new feature, which is only supported when running

the Enterprise Edition or Datacenter Edition, allows transmitted content to be

archived to a file. It is interesting to note here that the file can be accessed on

demand or rebroadcast even before the archiving is finished.

.
Advanced FF/RW—
When using this feature, independent files are used for fast-

forward and rewind functionality. Separate files increase performance playback and

reduce bandwidth contention.

.
Broadcast AutoStart—
This feature aims to minimize end-user disruption and

downtime. The key is to configure the broadcast publishing points to run automati-

cally so the stream automatically restarts in the event of a disruption.

.
Absolute Playlist Time—
Leverage this feature if there is a need to start a stream or

playlist at a certain time by indicating a specific value for time, such as 12:00 a.m.

The time entry is based on Coordinated Universal Time (UTC).

.
Encoder Failover URL Modifiers—
It is possible to leverage more than one encoder

to increase reliability and redundancy of the source content. The result is that

Windows Media Services can be configured to pull source content from an alternate

location in the event of a failure.

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CHAPTER 36

Windows Media Services

System Requirements for Windows Media Services

Besides requiring a Windows Server 2008 R2 system (Web Edition, Standard Edition,

Enterprise Edition, or Datacenter Edition), the basic requirements for Windows Media

Services are as follows:

.
Processor—
One or more processors running at 550MHz or higher

.
Memory—
512MB of RAM or higher

.
Hard disk space—
A minimum of 2GB

.
File system—
NTFS

.
Ethernet network adapter running TCP/IP

NOTE

It is important for readers to know that some features such as the Advanced Fast Start

and the Cache/Proxy Management functionality only operate if Windows Media Services

is installed on a Windows Server 2008 R2, Enterprise Edition or Datacenter Edition.

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Although these are the minimum hardware specifications provided by Microsoft, most

server class systems today typically consist of Dual Quad-Core, a minimum of 8GB of

RAM, and at least a gigabit network adapter.

What’s key to the Windows Media Services system is having enough processing speed to

handle the media streaming requests, enough RAM to cache the media streams, and

enough disk space to store the video files being shared and published. In addition, it is a

best practice to use a dedicated server for streaming, limit the total number of users to

50% of the maximum user capacity achieved by the load tests, and ensure the overall

network utilization is less than 50% of the maximum network interface capacity.

TIP

To improve the performance of a Windows Media Services system, place the operating

system and program files on one volume and place the video files on another volume

to distribute the normal server processes from the read/write access of the video files.

In addition, placing striped drive sets with ample hard drive controller cache can

improve both the sequential and parallel read/write requests of the video files as

Windows Media Services is more I/O intensive than processor intensive.

Determining Which Windows Server 2008 R2 Version to Utilize

Unlike the majority of the Microsoft products, the bells and whistles are included with the

Enterprise Edition or Datacenter Edition. This tradition deviates with Windows Media

Services on Windows Server 2008 R2. Many of the Windows Media Services features that

were only included with Windows Server 2008, Enterprise and Datacenter Editions are

Understanding Windows Media Services

1487

now included with the Windows Server 2008 R2, Standard, Foundation, and Web Editions.

Therefore, the feature sets with the Windows Server 2008 R2, Standard, Foundation, and

Web Editions are no longer limited in comparison with the Enterprise Edition or

Datacenter Edition.

Windows Media Services supports the following editions of Windows Server 2008 R2: R2

Datacenter, R2 Enterprise, R2 Standard, R2 Foundation, and Web Server 2008 R2.

NOTE

Unfortunately, Windows Media Services is not supported on the Itanium-based versions

of Windows Server 2008 R2. However, there have been significant improvements for

performance and manageability when streaming media with Hyper-V for Windows

Server 2008 R2.

To further assist readers and organizations in choosing the right version of Windows

Server 2008 R2, Table 36.1 compares the features available with Windows Media Services

based on each edition of the Windows Server 2008 R2 family.

TABLE 36.1

Comparing the Editions of Windows Media Services

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Feature Item

Standard, Foundation,

Enterprise and Data

36

and Web Editions

Center Editions

Absolute Playlist Time

X

X

Advanced Fast Start