helix 介绍

RealNetworks - Audio/Video Streaming Server

Information Technology Services (ITS) and the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (LAS) provide streaming media servers for Iowa State University faculty and staff who wish to use audio/video media streaming for Iowa State academic or administrative purposes. The servers currently run RealNetworks Helix Universal Server version 9.0 with each server licensed to handle 100 concurrent streams. Supported streaming media types include audio, video, and others.

Application Form

To have an account and directory created on one of the servers, fill in and submit the application form found at https://webct.ait.iastate.edu/realserver/realserver.pl .

About RealNetworks Helix Server

Both servers currently run RealNetworks Helix Universal Server version 9.0. Each server is licensed to handle 100 concurrent streams. The Helix Universal Server supports many streaming media types, some of which are listed here:

RealNetworks:	RealAudio (.rm); RealVideo (.rm, .rmvb); RealPix (.rp); RealText (.rt)
Macromedia:	Flash (.swf) [version 4 and lower]
Microsoft:	Windows Media (.asf, .wma, .wmv)
Apple:	QuickTime (.mov) [hinted movies only]
Standards-Based:	MPEG-2, MPEG-4, MP3
Image Formats:	GIF (.gif); JPEG (.jpg, .jpeg); PNG (.png)
Other:	AU (.au); AIFF (.aif, .ief); WAV (.wav); SMIL (.smi, .smil)

The two Helix Universal Servers are situated in ITS's Durham Center machine room. One is supported by ITS and the other by the LAS Center for On-Line Learning (COLL). The machine room is a secure area with 24x7 operations oversight. Data files on each server are backed up to tape once per week on the weekend, with the backup tapes stored offsite.

Media sponsored by the LAS college is put on the LAS Center for On-Line Learning Helix Server. Media sponsored by other areas is put on the ITS Helix Server.

Charges

The Helix Servers are currently being offered to campus through an LAS and ITS partnership primarily for the support of student learning. The existing servers have been scaled to meet a significant load. To the extent these servers continue to adequately meet demand or funding is available to expand capacity, no charges will be incurred for use directly related to credit courses.

For all other uses, the number of streams used or bandwidth consumed when streaming media are currently at no cost. Disk space used by media files on the streaming servers is charged at the standard disk space storage fee of $0.00145 per MB per day, which is billed monthly. Shortly after midnight each day, the sizes of each account's files are used for the charging calculations. As an example of storage costs, a typical one-hour video encoded with a 192x144 pixel dimension at 15fps using SureStream for dialup modem (28.8 Kbps) and on-campus viewing (220 Kbps) is about 205 MB, or approximately $108 per year to store on the Helix Server.

Storing Media Files on the Helix Server the First Time

To store media files on the Helix Server for the first time, you will need to fill out a Streaming Media File Storage Application form found at https://webct.ait.iastate.edu/realserver/realserver.pl . After submitting the form, you will receive email confirming the application and further instructions on using the appropriate server.

A unique file directory will be set up on the Helix Server for your media files; you may create subdirectories within this directory. An FTP account is also created on the server for you. You will use FTP access to upload your media files to the server, enabling you to store files anytime and have them immediately available for streaming. After uploading a file you will need to advertise its URL, e.g., through your personal web page or web-based instruction page (such as WebCT). See the Helix Server Technical Information section below for more details on how to have your clients access your media files.

Why Use Helix Server for Media Files?

Why would you use the ITS Helix Server for your media files? Two key reasons are server features and 24-hour-a-day, all-year server support.

Though some audio/video files may be hosted on an ordinary web server, there are limitations to their use. Web server playback uses the HTTP protocol and provides a reasonable method for sending simple presentations to a small number of users. However, it is not recommended for lengthy or complicated presentations, or for clips viewed simultaneously by large groups.

Some features that HTTP protocol cannot provide are the ability of RealPlayer to adjust the download speeds to adapt for network congestion. Also, HTTP cannot synchronize simultaneous clips such as animation and audio in RealFlash. Web servers cannot serve SureStream clips or present live broadcasts. Also, moving the Clip Position slider on RealPlayer will cause the file to stream data from its beginning to the player. As the video reaches the desired clip position, the user will see the buffering notice displayed, but no video or audio is displayed. HTTP cannot pick its starting position partway through a file.

Helix Server uses the RTSP protocol, which is designed specifically to stream clips that have timelines. RTSP lets RealPlayer (versions G2, 7, 8, and 9) and Helix Server exchange information about a presentation in progress and dynamically adjust the streaming data from pre-roll through the end to keep the clips playing smoothly throughout. Properly encoded media files on the Helix Server can begin playing at any start point after a short buffering time. The clip position slider can be moved on the RealPlayer, Windows Media Player, and QuickTime Player to any position. After the buffering time, the clip will start playing from that position. The clip does not have to start from its beginning and send all the video/audio up to the new starting position.

The RealNetworks SureStream technology, which is available exclusively in RealSystem G2, 7, 8, and 9, and operational with a Helix Server, lets you encode a single RealAudio or RealVideo clip for up to six separate bandwidths, and even select a backwards compatibility option to include an encoding for earlier versions of RealPlayer. RealPlayer will then automatically select and play the correct version for the bandwidth of each individual viewer, and can even shift dynamically to a lower or higher version as network conditions change. The Helix Server also can set up live broadcasts and employ password authentication.

Helix Server Technical Information

For FTP access to the ITS Helix Server video server, use this address:

realserver.ait.iastate.edu

For FTP access to the LAS COLL Helix Server video server, use this address:

collhelix.las.iastate.edu

Login with your assigned username and password. You will be placed directly into your default directory. The directory name may not show on some FTP programs so you'll have to trust that you are in the correct location.

Referencing a Media File from a Web Page

Media streaming documentation for RealNetworks is at:

http://www.realnetworks.com/resources/documentation/index.html

Coding samples are at:

http://www.realnetworks.com/resources/samples/index.html

The URLs below can be put in a web page. When they are clicked, the appropriate player will start in a new window. The examples below refer to the ITS server. For media files on the LAS COLL Helix Server, substitute "collhelix.las.iastate.edu " for "realserver.ait.iastate.edu " in the URL.

To reference Real media files on the ITS server:

http://realserver.ait.iastate.edu:8080/ramgen/directory/filename

where directory and filename are replaced with the directory name listed above and the filename of any file uploaded to the server.

To reference Microsoft Windows Media files on the ITS server:

http://realserver.ait.iastate.edu:8080/asxgen/directory/filename

where directory and filename are to be replaced with the directory name listed above and the filename of any file uploaded to the server.

There is not an easy way to play QuickTime movies from a web page. A special MakeRefMovie file must be created that references the QuickTime movie, or a Poster movie file must be created. Keep in mind that all QuickTime movies created for streaming must be "hinted" for efficient and effective transfer. The frames that make up a video clip can become quite large for transmission, affecting efficiency. And, if any of these frames are lost in a streaming transmission, it can have a very negative effect on quality. When video data is hinted, frames are divided into smaller chunks of data called packets to increase speed of transfer and reduce the impact of lost data.

More about launching QuickTime movies can be found at:

http://www.apple.com/quicktime/tutorials/

The MakeRefMovie tool is at:

http://developer.apple.com/quicktime/quicktimeintro/tools/index.html

To view media files from an embedded player in a web page, check out the web page:

http://www.public.iastate.edu/~rdalhoff/embedvideo.html

The page listed above contains samples of various ways to embed the different types of movies. Select View -> Page Source in your browser to see the source of the web page and copy the code that you want to use for your particular media type.

 

The Helix Server promises to “deliver over 10000 concurrent video and audio streams on.