The UCAR Web Engineering Group (WEG), under the auspices of the UCAR Web Advisory Group (WAG), provides a streaming media service to web content developers who use the UCAR web servers (www.ucar.edu).
The purpose for the service is to provide content creators with a place to store streaming media files, and a way to serve those files to the Internet. Such files are expected to be fairly static in their location and availability. This service is not intended to provide for live broadcasts. If you are interested in serving live broadcasts, please contact the UCAR MultiMedia Services group (MMS).
The server software is the Real Networks Helix server. This technology provides the capability to stream all three of the most popular proprietary media formats: Real, Apple Quicktime, and Windows Media.
The server hardware is a cluster of enterprise servers that are configured in a failover mode for higher reliability. If the primary server fails, then the service is automatically transferred to the alternate server, in a matter of moments. The alternate server is the same type of server as the primary, so there is no degradation of service in the failover mode.
The name of the server is real.ucar.edu.
The WEG does not have, nor provide, the means to create streaming media content. You may be able to obtain support for this through the MMS or the UCAR Image and Design Center (IDC). Your division or program may have authoring tools and support. Please contact your local web author.
You are free to make choices about the media format you would like to use, but keep in mind that the different formats have differences in authoring tools, visual quality, and the methods by which the files are referenced (the URLs and HTML pages that reference the media files depend upon the media format).
The WEG provides a server to for use in managing content under the web server. This includes streaming media content. The server is web.ucar.edu. With an account on this system, you can upload your content. If you do not have an account, you can request one from the WEG by posting a request in the WEG web site (click on "New Topic" to create your request).
Streaming media files are stored under the directory /web/streaming. In order to copy files into this directory, you must have previously obtained access permission from the WEG.
This media directory is the root of the content serving area for the server. In other words, files that are in this directory correspond to a media player URL under the root URL of "/". For example:
File name: /web/streaming/amovie.rm
URL: http://real.ucar.edu/ramgen/amovie.rm
For further information, for requests for help, and to pose questions about this service, please see the WEG web site.
2004-11-5