Streaming Video Opinion

How tough is it?

[jk321]

My cheesy little website has been offered a large deal to do webcasts via streaming video from a huge nightclub down here.

Am I right in assumung that there is a way to set it up so that I wouldn't have to get involved in the webcast technology - all I would have to do is link to the webcast page?

Any thoughts are appreciated.

Thanks,
JK321

[Brett_Tabke]

Yes, there are various concerns on the net that broadcast net events (such as broadcast.com). It just depends on how involved you wish to get. The bigger ones will want to start at a high 5 figures and work up.

It really isn't all that involved. You can get streaming software from Microsoft (netshow net server) or from RealAudio. There are many minor players too like Vivo.

The real trouble isn't the software, it will be having a server to deal with the traffic load. Nothing beats a server up faster than streaming video. The bandwidth it takes can be a real shock. Not uncommon for even small sites to chew through 4-10 gig a day without blinking.

[jk321]

<<Not uncommon for even small sites to chew through 4-10 gig a day without blinking.>>

Ummm........me not realize that, chemo-sabi....

jk

[NFFC]

Made me chuckle, might make you cry jk321.

ISP whacks game fan with $24,000 bandwidth fine [theregister.co.uk]

Quick UK joke: Why does the Lone Ranger wear a mask?
Because he's still signing on!

[Brett_Tabke]

It also depends on how high of bandwidth you are going to provide. The higher bandwidth video that is designed for cable and dsl is - well, a pig. If you design for 56k, at 4k per second that is 240k per minute per user. If you have a few thousand visitors sticking around for 15-30mins each, it really can add up.