Video, Audio and Animation on your computer screen- all made possible by Streaming Media. Learn more about this cool tool.

What is Streaming Media?

Streaming refers generally to the ability to split sound, video, or
animation files into little pieces and to serve them a piece at a time,
so that a player on the receiving end can begin playing the pieces it
has already received without having to wait to find out what else might
be coming along.


There are two main types of streaming that you may come across. Most
web hosts will claim to have the ability to "stream" RealAudio,
RealVideo, Quicktime or other multimedia formats, but it is important
to understand that this usually refers to "streamed downloading",
otherwise known as "progressive streaming".



Progressive Streaming

With progressive streaming, a file is downloaded from the server, but
it is served in such a way that the player knows it can start playing
as soon as it receives the start of the file, and that the rest of the
file will follow. With this type of streaming, the entire file will
still be downloaded and stored on the visitor's computer.


Many hosts aren't very supportive of sites that serve a lot of
multimedia files, since these files use the most disk space and
bandwidth and cost the host the most money, so be sure to get an idea
of your host's attitude towards multimedia files before signing up. In
addition, some hosts (especially free hosts) place restrictions on the
types of files that can be stored on the server (for example, some
hosts don't allow mp3, avi, or mpeg files to be uploaded.



Real-time Streaming

If you are serious about streaming, or serving a lot of multimedia
files, you probably want to consider a web host that offers real-time
or server-based streaming.


With real-time streaming, the media is usually broadcast to your
browser directly from a special server that is dedicated to managing
streaming connections with the media player. Three popular types of
streaming servers are the QuickTime Streaming Server from Apple, the
Real Networks Server or the Windows Media Server.


With real-time streaming, the file is stored on the streaming server,
but the entire file isn't downloaded to the player, it is broadcast a
moment at a time, so that the player just plays what it has received as
it receives it, much like a television. Unlike with television,
however, real-time streaming allows you to jump around or skip ahead to
any location in the media clip.


Real-time streaming is great for live broadcasts, long movies, spoken
audio, presentations, and other files where the viewer may want to skip
around, or doesn't want to download a huge video file.


Real-time streaming servers usually cost money and are therefore rarely
included in low-cost hosting packages. Some web hosts offer streaming
servers for an additional fee, and some web hosts don't support
real-time streaming at all. Also different hosts support different
server types. Real Networks' Server is the most common, with Quicktime
being a bit harder to find.



Do I need Streaming Media?

If you plan to have streaming audio or video, especially if you think
you will need real-time streaming, you will need to be sure that your
web host offers the streaming server you prefer. Be aware that
streaming media takes up more web space and bandwidth than a typical
web site, so plan ahead, since you will also want a hosting package
with these additional resources.