Streaming audio on a seperate server

[TGecho]

I'm working on a site that involves streaming audio. I decided a seperate server for the audio would probably be a good idea. I want nontechies to be able to easily add the clips, so I think I'll be able to use php's ftp functions to manipulate the files on the remote server. Are there any considerations here, especially since I'll be dealing with fairly sizable file?

The only issue I could think of was that the file would first be uploaded to the "web" server, then to the "streaming" server. This would theoretically double the time required, plus burn up bandwidth on the webserver. Not a big deal, as it would only happen a couple time a week at most.

Are there any other major considerations when working with streaming audio? Should I go for multiple formats? Which one(s)?

[bakedjake]

T- Why not just install a web server on your audio server whose only purpose is to take the uploaded files? You could lock it down pretty nicely, and that would save you from having to do the dual-transfer thing.

As far as streaming audio goes, I'd use MP3 streams. They're widely supported, cross-platform, and most computers will already have a player for them (Windows Media Player, Winamp, and RealPlayer all support streaming MP3, and I'm sure there are a ton for the Mac, too. XMMS supports them on UNIX flawlessly).