Read Windows Server 2008 R2 Unleashed Online
Authors: Noel Morimoto
version of SQL Server 2005 if Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 will be used exten-
sively by the organization and contain mission-critical data.
. Keep the Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 Server up to date with all patches and
updates of Windows Server 2008 R2 to reduce the risk of attacks or malfunctions.
. Use the full SharePoint Server 2007 application when you need to add enterprise-
level tools to Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 sites, or to add other features as
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summarized in this chapter.
. Document libraries are building blocks of Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 sites and
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provide tools such as document versioning, checkout and check-in features, alerts,
and RSS feed capabilities.
. Lists are similar to Excel spreadsheets in many ways, and are customized in Windows
SharePoint Services 3.0 to offer calendaring, task management, discussion group, and
other types of functionality.
. The Office 2007 products offer extensive integration with Windows SharePoint
Services 3.0 sites. However, Office 2003 products can also be used with Windows
SharePoint Services 3.0 sites, but the integration is more limited.
. Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 offers different tiers of management tools for the
farm administrator, top-level site administrator, and site administrator. Design tools
can be used from the browser for many page layout and formatting tasks.
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IN THIS CHAPTER
Windows Media Services
. Understanding Windows Media
Services
. Installing Windows Media
Services
. Using Windows Media Services
for Real-Time Live Broadcasts
. Broadcasting Stored Single Files
Digital content has taken society to fascinating new
. Hosting a Directory of Videos
levels. It’s not surprising as today’s digital media solutions
for On-Demand Playback
allow individuals and organizations alike to use various
. Combining Multiple Files for a
devices to capture, download, present, and stream digital
Combined Single Broadcast
content in a matter of minutes.
. Understanding Windows Media
The move away from conventional forms of communica-
Encoder
tion has placed a heavy demand on companies like
. Broadcasting a Live Event
Microsoft to introduce products that not only give people
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and organizations more efficient ways to communicate, but
. Capturing Audio or Video for
also provide a mechanism to publish digital content while
Future Playback
also reducing costs.
. Using Other Windows Media
Encoder Options
As a result, Microsoft introduced Windows Media Services—
a free, optional component for Windows Server 2008 R2
that takes full advantage of the Internet and intranet to
stream live or on-demand digital content. Microsoft also
provides two major tools, both of which are freely down-
loadable, that perform media conversion (Windows Media
Encoder) as well as content customization for presentations.
Organizations, small and large, are seeing the impact the
streaming media solution has on communication and their
pockets. It has improved communication by ensuring infor-
mation broadcast and rebroadcast is consistent. For
example, employees in an organization’s most remote loca-
tion can watch a presentation live. Equally important, the
presentation remains available on demand for those who
missed the live presentation or wanted to review it. As this
example demonstrates, everyone receives the same informa-
tion. Employee downtime has also significantly decreased.
Employees are traveling less for company meetings, career
development workshops, and other events. The benefits do
not stop there as organizations are saving money by taking
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CHAPTER 36
Windows Media Services
advantage of their existing networks. By building upon what they already have instead of
investing in other products, including satellite or television, organizations are seeing finan-
cial benefits. Not to mention some organizations’ business models, such as YouTube, bring
in millions every year by offering digital media publishing services to their consumers.
This chapter covers both the server component of Windows Media Services as well as
the downloadable tools that provide editing and publishing support for users and
administrators.
Understanding Windows Media Services
Windows Media Services is no longer a built-in component on the Windows Server 2008
R2 operating system. As such, it will be necessary for those working with the Windows
Server 2008 R2 family of operating systems to obtain Windows Media Services directly
from the Microsoft website. It will also be necessary to install and configure the Windows
Media Services role on a Windows Server 2008 R2 system. Windows Media Services
enables the administrators of an organization to organize video and audio files to be
published to other users. The publishing function sets the bandwidth that will be used
during the file distribution, controls the number of users accessing audio and video files at
the same time, and manages the overall bandwidth demands of the Windows Media
Services functions.
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By properly configuring and optimizing media services functions, an organization can
minimize the excessive demands of media services distribution over the network. The
decisions that need to be made include whether distribution will be:
. Real-time live broadcasts
. Single broadcasts at a time
. Multiple files combined to a single broadcast
. Multiple files in a single directory for selective broadcasting
The various publishing options are highlighted throughout this chapter as best practices,
tips, and tricks on configuring and implementing the publishing services to meet various
organizational needs.
Features Included with Windows Media Services Running on
Windows Server 2008 R2
Windows Media Services running on Windows Server 2008 R2 offers a plethora of features
and functionality:
.
Cache/Proxy Management—
To bolster presentation experience, a plug-in can be
used to provide cache or reverse proxy functionality of digital media content. This
new feature reduces network infrastructure costs by decreasing the amount of band-
width required and used.
.
Server Core installation—
IT professionals have the option of installing the
Windows Media Services components on a Server Core installation of Windows
Understanding Windows Media Services
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Server 2008 R2. A Server Core installation of Windows Server 2008 R2 is a scaled-
down version of the installation offering specific administrative roles without the
management interfaces and tools, which reduces management and surface area
attacks.
NOTE
Review Chapter 3, “Installing Windows Server 2008 R2 and Server Core,” for more
information on Windows Server 2008 R2 Server Core installation.
.
Multicast for Silverlight—
Windows Media Services can now deliver multicast
streams to Silverlight with the new Silverlight Multicast plug-in.
.
Single Installation Package—
Unlike Windows Server 2008, a single package is
offered to make the deployment of Windows Media Server on Windows Server 2008
R2 much easier.
.
Tighter Integration with Hyper-V—
Streaming, performance, and manageability
has improved when running Windows Media Services on Hyper-V on Windows
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Server 2008 R2.
.
Advanced Fast Start—
This new feature associated with Windows Server 2008 R2
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leverages the maximum available bandwidth allowed during the initial connection
to a stream, resulting in end users being able to see content as soon as they connect.
As soon as the playback begins, bandwidth is throttled back to a regular amount.
.
Play While Archiving—
This new feature, which is only supported when running
the Enterprise Edition or Datacenter Edition, allows transmitted content to be
archived to a file. It is interesting to note here that the file can be accessed on
demand or rebroadcast even before the archiving is finished.
.
Advanced FF/RW—
When using this feature, independent files are used for fast-
forward and rewind functionality. Separate files increase performance playback and
reduce bandwidth contention.
.
Broadcast AutoStart—
This feature aims to minimize end-user disruption and
downtime. The key is to configure the broadcast publishing points to run automati-
cally so the stream automatically restarts in the event of a disruption.
.
Absolute Playlist Time—
Leverage this feature if there is a need to start a stream or
playlist at a certain time by indicating a specific value for time, such as 12:00 a.m.
The time entry is based on Coordinated Universal Time (UTC).
.
Encoder Failover URL Modifiers—
It is possible to leverage more than one encoder
to increase reliability and redundancy of the source content. The result is that
Windows Media Services can be configured to pull source content from an alternate
location in the event of a failure.
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CHAPTER 36
Windows Media Services
System Requirements for Windows Media Services
Besides requiring a Windows Server 2008 R2 system (Web Edition, Standard Edition,
Enterprise Edition, or Datacenter Edition), the basic requirements for Windows Media
Services are as follows:
.
Processor—
One or more processors running at 550MHz or higher
.
Memory—
512MB of RAM or higher
.
Hard disk space—
A minimum of 2GB
.
File system—
NTFS
.
Ethernet network adapter running TCP/IP
NOTE
It is important for readers to know that some features such as the Advanced Fast Start
and the Cache/Proxy Management functionality only operate if Windows Media Services
is installed on a Windows Server 2008 R2, Enterprise Edition or Datacenter Edition.
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Although these are the minimum hardware specifications provided by Microsoft, most
server class systems today typically consist of Dual Quad-Core, a minimum of 8GB of
RAM, and at least a gigabit network adapter.
What’s key to the Windows Media Services system is having enough processing speed to
handle the media streaming requests, enough RAM to cache the media streams, and
enough disk space to store the video files being shared and published. In addition, it is a
best practice to use a dedicated server for streaming, limit the total number of users to
50% of the maximum user capacity achieved by the load tests, and ensure the overall
network utilization is less than 50% of the maximum network interface capacity.
TIP
To improve the performance of a Windows Media Services system, place the operating
system and program files on one volume and place the video files on another volume
to distribute the normal server processes from the read/write access of the video files.
In addition, placing striped drive sets with ample hard drive controller cache can
improve both the sequential and parallel read/write requests of the video files as
Windows Media Services is more I/O intensive than processor intensive.
Determining Which Windows Server 2008 R2 Version to Utilize
Unlike the majority of the Microsoft products, the bells and whistles are included with the
Enterprise Edition or Datacenter Edition. This tradition deviates with Windows Media
Services on Windows Server 2008 R2. Many of the Windows Media Services features that
were only included with Windows Server 2008, Enterprise and Datacenter Editions are
Understanding Windows Media Services
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now included with the Windows Server 2008 R2, Standard, Foundation, and Web Editions.
Therefore, the feature sets with the Windows Server 2008 R2, Standard, Foundation, and
Web Editions are no longer limited in comparison with the Enterprise Edition or
Datacenter Edition.
Windows Media Services supports the following editions of Windows Server 2008 R2: R2
Datacenter, R2 Enterprise, R2 Standard, R2 Foundation, and Web Server 2008 R2.
NOTE
Unfortunately, Windows Media Services is not supported on the Itanium-based versions
of Windows Server 2008 R2. However, there have been significant improvements for
performance and manageability when streaming media with Hyper-V for Windows
Server 2008 R2.
To further assist readers and organizations in choosing the right version of Windows
Server 2008 R2, Table 36.1 compares the features available with Windows Media Services
based on each edition of the Windows Server 2008 R2 family.
TABLE 36.1
Comparing the Editions of Windows Media Services
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Feature Item
Standard, Foundation,
Enterprise and Data
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and Web Editions
Center Editions
Absolute Playlist Time
X
X
Advanced Fast Start