Did you think that peer-to-peer networks were all about copyright infringement? Well, think again; peer-enabled streaming can help you get around bottlenecks and minimize your bandwidth costs.
The internet as rich media infrastructure
Digitisation allows many kinds of content to be delivered over different networks, and the Internet has become a global infrastructure for communication, opening up myriad possibilities for new industries and services. Convergence between devices picks up speed as technology gaps between TV and PC diminishes. With an increasing percentage of the population viewing and listening to rich media distributed via the Internet, broadcasters are expected to push more content online. However, current distribution architecture makes live streaming of video and audio very inefficient and expensive, as the internet does not have the same economies of scale as terrestrial broadcast.
How can we help?
A peer-to-peer (or P2P) computer network relies on the computing power and bandwidth of the participants in the network rather than concentrating it in a relatively low number of servers. When using this technology, the bandwidth requirement of the broadcast is intelligently distributed over the entire network of participants, instead of being centralised at the broadcast's origin; as the audience grows so do the network resources available to distribute that broadcast without adding any additional bandwidth costs. This makes broadcasting over the internet completely scalable and eliminates the success penalty broadcasters normally experience.
How does it work?
Essentially, RawFlow provides a solution for intelligently distributing live content via a peer network or grid. RawFlow's technology utilises the redundant (and therefore free) upstream capacity of the end user. While the viewer watches video on the downstream, the video is relayed to a peer on the upstream. RawFlow.s technology is an enhancement to unicasting . not a replacement. Here.s a scenario of how RawFlow.s P2P streaming works as an enhancement to unicasting:
[1] Encoded content is sent to the Media Server.
[2] The Media Server streams content to the end user via unicasting.
[3] Each user receives a unique stream (unicasting). In this model the costs increase proportionally with audience size.
[4] The RawFlow Intelligent Content Distribution (ICD) Server application provides the initial contact point for the peers in the network. RawFlow.s ICD Server can be installed on any media server, and manages the P2P network. With RawFlow, when a user clicks to get the content, a connection is made to a media server running RawFlow's ICD Server.
[5] The ICD Server pulls a single stream from the media server.
[6] When user (A) clicks to access the content, (A) will be asked to install the ICD Client; a tiny browser plugin, before accessing the content. After accepting the plugin, the content streams as normal.
[7] Because user (A) has got the RawFlow plugin installed, the second user (B) that joins the peering network and accept the plugin, can receives the broadcast from A's redundant upstream capacity. Multiple users can jointly contribute bandwidth so that every spare Kilobit of bandwidth is used most efficiently.
[8] If there is insufficient bandwidth available on the network to support the broadcast, the ICD Server automatically instructs the media server to deliver a 'booster' stream to the network (C).
[9] The more the merrier: As more users join the broadcast, the P2P network simply grows ever more efficient . which means more cost savings and better scalability.
When initially installed, the ICD Server connects to the broadcaster.s existing media server and begins receiving the stream, maintaining a buffer of stream data in memory at all times. It then begins accepting connections from clients and serving them with the stream. When launched by a user, the ICD Client first contacts the ICD Server and begins receiving the stream from it. The media player plays the stream as it is received by the ICD Client. If it has available resources, the ICD Client also accepts connections from other clients in the grid to which it may relay a portion or the whole stream it receives as requested.
The ICD Client monitors the quality of the stream it is receiving and upon any reduction of quality or loss of connection it again searches the grid for available resources while continuing to serve the media player from its buffer. The buffer prevents interruption to the playback and ensures that the end-user experience is not affected.
The ICD Server is always available as a last resort for clients that cannot find sufficient available resources in the grid. This guarantees a constant seed of the stream.
In addition, the RawFlow solution enables monitoring and management of all content that is delivered into the RawFlow delivery grid. This means that we allow for reporting and digital rights management.
Where does RawFlow fit in?
Streaming has evolved with RawFlow.
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