Multicasts - Induteq
Windows Media Services
Part 3
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Windows Media Services Part 3 i
Multicasts 1
How to. . . 1
Stations, programs, and streams overview 14
Understanding multicast stations 15
Understanding distribution stations 15
Delivering streams over a non-multicast-enabled network 16
Delivering streams through a firewall 17
Creating multicast stations with Windows Media Administrator 17
Selecting stream sources for stations 18
Specifying the source URL for the stream object 18
Adding stream format information 19
Creating unicast rollover for a multicast station 19
Publishing station content 20
Editing station properties 21
Setting multicast destination IP address and port 23
Setting multicast scope 24
Exporting a station 24
Importing a station 24
Understanding programs and streams 25
Adding streams to a program 25
Defining sources for streams 26
Editing stream properties 28
Editing program playlists 29
Announcing programs 29
Saving a program 29
Editing program properties 30
Deleting a program 30
Starting and stopping a program 30
Creating Welcome to Windows Media Services 30
Configuring a multicast file transfer 33
Adding a file transfer stream to a program 33
Using the file transfer Advanced tab 33
Configuring Nsfile.ocx to receive a multicast file transfer 35
Managing station connections 35
Managing station streams 36
Troubleshooting stations 37
Windows Media event monitors 39
How to. . . 39
Monitoring Windows Media unicast events 41
Managing the Windows Media unicast event display 41
Windows Media unicast event messages overview 42
Administrator events 42
Alert events 42
Client events 43
Server events 43
Monitoring Windows Media station events 43
Managing the Windows Media station event display 44
Windows Media station event messages overview 45
Windows Media performance counters 47
How to. . . 47
Windows Media Unicast service performance counters 48
Default performance counters overview 48
Optional performance counters overview 50
Windows Media Station service performance counters 51
Information logs 53
How to. . . 53
Logging unicast client information 55
Logging multicast client information 56
Analyzing Windows Media log files 57
Finding the user experience in a Windows Media log file 58
Understanding the user experience in a Windows Media log file 59
Scenario 1: the user experience for an on-demand unicast 60
Scenario 2: the user experience for a broadcast unicast 62
Scenario 3: the user experience for a multicast 62
Understanding lost packets 63
Windows Media log file reference 65
Windows Media administration and security 69
How to. . . 69
Managing the Windows Media component services account 76
Managing the Windows Media component services account in a multiple-server environment 76
Administering Windows Media server components 77
Administering Windows Media server components locally 77
Administering Windows Media server components remotely 78
Administering Windows Media component services remotely with DCOM 79
Restricting access to ASF streams 79
Setting up unicast publishing point security 80
Using HTTP-BASIC Authentication with the Membership Service Account Database 81
Using HTTP-BASIC Authentication with the NTLM Account Database 81
Using access control list (ACL) checking 82
Restricting connections to Windows Media server with access lists 82
Windows Media server components authorization overview 83
Authorizing Windows Media clients 84
Creating distribution authentication 84
Multicasts
Windows Media server components can be configured to multicast streams to clients without using a lot of network bandwidth. Stations are used to multicast streams to clients. Without stations, streams are delivered via unicast, meaning that each client that receives an ASF stream has a distinct connection to the server.
A station contains all the information needed to deliver ASF content to Microsoft Windows Media Player or to another Windows Media server in a usable manner. Station QuickStart wizard is provided to help you define this information. If you are familiar with station characteristics, use the Multicast Stations page in Windows Media Administrator instead of Station QuickStart wizard to create a station.
How to. . .
This section lists the procedures that are most commonly performed in creating and managing multicasts. Use the procedures to quickly accomplish a task. This procedure list precedes the overview information that explains multicasts in more detail. If you want to learn more about multicasts, continue past the procedures and read the overview information.
To create a multicast station using QuickStart
1. In the Windows Media Administrator menu frame, click Multicast Stations.
The Multicast Stations page appears.
2. Make sure the Use wizard to create new station check box is selected, click Stations, and then click New.
Configure and Publish Multicast Broadcast Streams QuickStart wizard appears.
3. On the Select a station screen, select Create a new station.
4. On the Create a new station screen, type a name and a description for the station, then select a distribution mode.
5. On the Specify a program and stream name screen, type a name for the program in Program Name and a name for the stream in Stream Name. You also can activate two program options:
( Select Start program once wizard is finished to make the program immediately available for viewing after the station is created.
( Select Replay stream objects once finished (loop) to play the program repeatedly after it is started.
6. The QuickStart wizard presents you with several screens so that you can select and configure a stream source for the multicast station.
( On the Specify a source for the stream object screen, select a source for the stream.
( On the Specify a source URL for the stream object screen, type the URL to the stream source.
( On the Specify stream format information screen (or screens), specify the path to the stream source so its stream format information is added to the station definition.
7. Store the multicast station information file (.nsc file) in a location that can be accessed by Microsoft Windows Media Player.
( On the Export path for the station information file screen, type the path to the .nsc file storage location.
( On the Station information file URL screen, specify the URL or UNC path that Windows Media Player will use to access the stored .nsc file.
8. On the Select publishing method screen, select the methods for publishing the stream. For more information about publishing methods, see Publishing station content.
9. On the Ready to publish screen, review the list of options you have selected. To edit any of these, click Back once or more to return to the appropriate station information.
10. If you do not plan to send the .asx file to users in an e-mail message, save it to an accessible directory. Save any .htm files created by the publishing methods you selected to directories that users can access either directly or via a Web server.
Note
On the Publishing complete screen, you can test the stream from your station. To test the station, click Test .asx, Test .htm w/, or Test .htm w/ to begin streaming the station content in Windows Media Player.
To create a multicast station using the advanced method
1. In the Windows Media Administrator menu frame, click Multicast Stations.
The Multicast Stations page appears.
2. On the Multicast Stations page, clear the Use wizard to create new station check box.
3. Click Stations, and then click New.
The New Station page appears.
4. Enter station property information in the text dialog boxes to create a station.
For more information about station properties, see Editing station properties.
To enable HTTP streaming for the Windows Media Station service
1. In the Windows Media Administrator menu frame, click Server Properties.
2. On the Server Properties page, select the HTTP Streaming and Distribution tab.
3. On the HTTP Streaming and Distribution tab, select Enable HTTP distribution for Windows Media Station service and click Apply.
4. Restart the server to enable the change. The service starts automatically and binds to the appropriate port.
Note
If Windows Media server components and a Web server exist on the server computer, you can set the Windows Media server components to be dependent on the Web server. This setting ensures that the Web server and Windows Media server components will co-exist on the computer. To set this dependency, see To edit the registry so that the Windows Media Unicast service depends on the Web server.
To edit a station
1. In the Windows Media Administrator menu frame, click Multicast Stations.
The Multicast Stations page appears.
2. From the list of stations, double-click the station whose properties you want to edit.
The Edit Station page appears, listing all station properties.
3. Make the changes you want.
Note
A message appears, asking you if you want to save your changes to an .nsc file. To save changes to the .nsc file, you must export the .nsc file to the same directory where the older version of the .nsc file exists.
To export a station
1. In the Windows Media Administrator menu frame, click Multicast Stations.
The Multicast Stations page appears.
2. On the Multicast Stations page, click the station you want to export, click Stations, and then click Export.
3. In the Export a station dialog box, find the directory in which you want to store the .nsc file and click Save.
Note
Before you can export a station, you must stop any active streams in that station. To stop a stream, you must stop its program. For more information, see To stop a program.
To import a station from an .nsc file
1. In the Windows Media Administrator menu frame, click Multicast Stations.
The Multicast Stations page appears.
2. On the Multicast Stations page, click Stations, and then click Import.
3. Select Import a new station from an existing station file (.nsc) and click Import.
4. In the Windows Media Administrator dialog box, locate the .nsc file and click Open.
Note
When you import a station from an .nsc file, only station information is imported. No program or stream information is included. To associate streams with a station, either create new streams whose Destination is the imported station or edit existing streams so that their Destination is the imported station.
To import a station from another Windows Media server
1. In the Windows Media Administrator menu frame, click Multicast Stations.
The Multicast Stations page appears.
2. On the Multicast Stations page, click Stations, and then click Import.
3. Select Import a station from a remote Windows Media server.
4. On the Import New Station From Windows Media Server page, in the Remote Server Name box, type the name of the Windows Media server from which you want to import one or more stations and click Connect.
A list of stations available on the server appears.
5. Click one or more stations that you want to import, and then click Copy Station.
The station is added to the list of stations.
Note
When you import a station from a remote Windows Media server, only station information is imported. No program or stream information is included. To associate streams with a station, either create new streams or edit existing streams so that their Destination is the imported station.
To copy a station
1. In the Windows Media Administrator menu frame, click Multicast Stations.
The Multicast Stations page appears.
2. On the Multicast Stations page, in the list of stations, click the station with the information you want to copy, click Stations, and then click Copy.
3. In the Copy station dialog box, type a name for the new station.
4. On the New Station page, type a new port in Port. You also can edit any information in any of the other boxes.
Notes
Before you can copy a station, you must stop any active streams in that station. To stop a stream, you must stop its program. For more information, see To stop a program.
If the station being copied is a distribution station only, the new station does not require values for IP address and port and it will be added to the list of stations automatically. For more information about editing properties for this station, see Editing station properties.
No program or stream information is associated with the new station. To quickly add a program and stream to the new station, see To create a program and stream for a station using QuickStart.
To remove a station
1. In the Windows Media Administrator menu frame, click Multicast Stations.
The Multicast Stations page appears.
2. On the Multicast Stations page, from the list of stations, click the station you want to remove.
3. Click Stations, and then click Delete.
Note
Before you remove a station file, it is a good idea to export the station. This way, if you decide that you want to use a station that you removed earlier, you can import it again.
To create a program and stream for a station using QuickStart
1. In the Windows Media Administrator menu frame, click Multicast Stations.
The Multicast Stations page opens.
2. Make sure the Use wizard to create new station check box is selected, click Stations, and then click New.
Configure and Publish Multicast Broadcast Streams QuickStart wizard appears.
3. On the Select a Station screen, select the Select an existing station check box, and from the list of stations, click the station to which you want to add a program and stream.
4. Follow steps 5 through 10 in To create a multicast station using QuickStart.
Note
This procedure assumes that either you have created a station that has no associated programs or streams, or you have imported a station. The station retains its properties, such as distribution mode, IP address, and time-to-live value (TTL).
To create a program
1. In the Windows Media Administrator menu frame, click Multicast Stations.
The Multicast Stations page appears.
2. In the list of stations, click the station for which you want to create the program.
3. Click Programs, and then click New.
The Program dialog box appears.
4. In Name, type a name for the program.
5. (Optional) In Description, Author, and Copyright, type the appropriate information for the program.
6. Under Play Options, type the number of times you want the program to play in the Play time(s) box. If you want the program to loop repeatedly until you stop it, select Play Forever.
7. Add one or more streams to your program. For more information, see To add streams to a program.
Notes
Before you can create a program, you must create at least one station. For more information, see To create a multicast station using QuickStart.
If a stream fails to play, the program tries to play the next stream in the series. To stop the program when such an error occurs, in the Program dialog box, select the Stop Program On Error check box.
To add streams to a program
1. In the Windows Media Administrator menu frame, click Multicast Stations.
The Multicast Stations page appears.
2. On the Multicast Stations page, click the program to which you want to add a stream.
3. Click Streams, and then click New.
4. In the Advanced Streaming Format dialog box, click the General tab.
( In the Name box, type a name for the stream.
( (Optional) In the Description box, type a description of the stream.
5. Click the Source/Destination tab.
( Under Source, in the URL box, type the path to the source of the stream. If Windows Media Encoder is the stream source, and the encoder has been configured to create the connection and deliver an ASF stream to the Windows Media server, type the connection alias in the Alias box.
For more information about specifying a source for a stream, see Defining sources for streams.
( Under Station, in the Station box, select the station you want to use for the stream.
6. (Optional) Click the Advanced tab.
For information about setting any options for a stream on the Advanced tab, see Editing stream properties.
To edit stream properties
1. In the Windows Media Administrator menu frame, click Multicast Stations.
The Multicast Stations page appears.
2. Under Multicast ASF Programs and Streams, click the name of the stream you want to edit.
3. Click Streams, and then click Properties.
4. Make the changes you want.
For more information about how to edit the information in each box, see Editing stream properties.
Note
This procedure assumes that you are editing the properties of an ASF stream that is associated with a program.
To edit a playlist
1. In the Windows Media Administrator menu frame, click Multicast Stations.
The Multicast Stations page appears.
2. Under Multicast ASF Programs and Streams, click the name of the stream you want to move.
( To move the stream up in the order, click Streams, and then click Move Up; or click the up arrow on the far right under Multicast ASF Programs and Streams.
( To move a stream down in the order, click Streams, and then click Move Down; or click the down arrow on the far right under Multicast ASF Programs and Streams.
( To remove a stream from the playlist, click Streams, and then click Delete.
To create a program announcement
1. In the Windows Media Administrator menu frame, click Multicast Stations.
The Multicast Stations page appears.
2. Under Multicast ASF Programs and Streams, click the name of the program that you want to announce.
3. Click Programs, and then click Announce Program.
The Save As dialog box appears.
4. In the File Name box, type the path and file name for the announcement (.asx) file.
5. Click Save.
Note
Be sure to save the announcement file to a location that the user can access, for example, to a shared UNC directory or to a Web server directory. The .asx file enables Microsoft Windows Media Player to access the ASF stream.
To save a program
1. In the Windows Media Administrator menu frame, click Multicast Stations.
The Multicast Stations page appears.
2. Under Multicast ASF Programs and Streams, click the name of the program you want to save.
3. Click Programs, and then click Archive Program.
The Save As dialog box appears.
4. Locate the directory in which you want to save the program file.
5. In the File name box, type a name for the file.
6. Click Save.
To restore a saved program
1. In the Windows Media Administrator menu frame, click Multicast Stations.
The Multicast Stations page appears.
2. Under Multicast ASF Programs and Streams, click Programs, and then click Restore ASF Programs.
3. In the Open dialog box, type the full path of the file.
4. Click Open.
To edit program properties
1. In the Windows Media Administrator menu frame, click Multicast Stations.
The Multicast Stations page appears.
2. Under Multicast ASF Programs and Streams, click the program whose properties you want to change.
3. Click Programs, and then click Properties.
The Program dialog box appears.
4. Make changes to the properties.
For more information about program properties, see To create a program.
Note
You cannot edit a program that is running. For more information, see To stop a program.
To delete a program
1. In the Windows Media Administrator menu frame, click Multicast Stations.
The Multicast Stations page appears.
2. Under Multicast ASF Programs and Streams, click the name of the program you want to remove.
3. Click Programs, and then click Delete.
To start a program
1. In the Windows Media Administrator menu frame, click Multicast Stations.
The Multicast Stations page appears.
2. Under Multicast ASF Programs and Streams, click the name of the program you want to start.
3. Click Start Program.
To stop a program
1. In the Windows Media Administrator menu frame, click Multicast Stations.
The Multicast Stations page appears.
2. Under Multicast ASF Programs and Streams, click the name of the program you want to stop.
3. Click Stop Program.
To create a file transfer program
1. In the Windows Media Administrator menu frame, click Multicast File Transfers.
The Multicast File Transfers page appears.
2. Under Multicast File Broadcasts, click Programs, and then click New.
The Program dialog box appears.
3. In Name, type a name for the program.
4. (Optional) In Description, Author, and Copyright, type the appropriate information for the program.
5. Under Play Options, type the number of times you want the program to play in the Play time(s) box. If you want the program to loop repeatedly (that is, make the file transfer stream or streams always available to the client) until you stop it, select Play Forever.
The file transfer program appears in the list of programs.
Notes
To complete a multicast file transfer, you must add file transfer streams to the program, and then start the program. A file transfer program can contain only file transfer streams; it cannot contain ASF streams. For information, see To add a file transfer stream to a program
If a file transfer stream fails to play, the program tries to play the next file transfer stream in the series. To stop the program when an error occurs, in the Program dialog box, select the Stop Program On Error check box.
To add a file transfer stream to a program
1. In the Windows Media Administrator menu frame, click Multicast File Transfers.
The Multicast File Transfers page appears.
2. Under Multicast File Broadcasts, click the name of the program to which you want to add the stream.
3. Click Streams, and then click New.
4. To give the stream a name and description, click the General tab.
( In the Name box, type a name for the stream.
( In the Description box, type a description for the stream.
5. To define the source and destination for the stream, click the Source/Destination tab.
6. Under Source:
( Click File to transfer files and directories.
In the File box, type the path and name of the file or directory you want to transfer.
To transfer all the files in a directory, type the directory name. Files are transferred to the location specified under Destination unless this destination is overridden by the client.
To specify multiple files in a directory, use a wild card.
To transfer the subdirectories and their files in a directory, select the Include Subdirectories check box. Subdirectories are created below the location you enter under Destination. Empty subdirectories are not transferred.
( Click URL to transfer a file referenced by its URL. In the URL box, type the Internet address of the file you want to transfer. The file is transferred to the browser cache on the client computer.
7. Under Destination Address:
( In the IP Address box, type the destination IP address.
( In the Port box, type the destination port.
For more information on specifying IP addresses and ports for a multicast file transfer, see Configuring a multicast file transfer.
8. To specify the scope of the broadcast, select a Time to Live option:
( Click Local Network to limit the broadcast to the local network node.
( Click Intranet to limit the broadcast to your site.
( Click Internet to expand the scope of the broadcast to the Internet.
( Click Other to type a custom value. Values can range from 1 through 255.
For more information on setting the scope of broadcasts, see Setting multicast scope.
9. Under Destination, select a destination for the file transfer:
( Click Directory and type a directory name in the box to transfer the files and directories you have specified to that directory on the client. You can use environment variables to specify a location on the client. By default, files and subdirectories are transferred to the directory specified by the client temp environment variable.
( Click File and type a file name in the box to transfer a file and rename it on the client.
( Click Base URL and type a URL to transfer the files you have specified to the Microsoft Internet Explorer cache on the client. The URL you specify is used as a prefix for each of the files transferred.
Use this option to load the client cache with files before they are needed. For example, if you are streaming an .asf file that includes URLs of graphics files, you can transfer the graphic files to the client before they are needed for display. Because they are already in the cache, the client can display them quickly.
10. To display the advanced options, click the Advanced tab.
For more information about filling out the Advanced tab, see Using the file transfer Advanced tab.
Note
Files can be referenced by UNC path or URL. If URL references are used, the files and the URLs are transferred to the client computer. The files are stored in the directory specified by the stream and the URLs are stored in the browser cache. This is called stuffing the cache. Stuffing the cache works only if you are using Microsoft Internet Explorer version 3.0 or later. The browser security settings on a client computer must be set so that it can receive file transfers.
Stations, programs, and streams overview
Station, program, and stream information must be provided before Windows Media server components can multicast ASF streams. Without this information, a Windows Media server can stream only on-demand .asf files.
The following diagram shows how Microsoft Windows Media Player accesses a multicast ASF stream.
[pic]
|Step |Action |
| |
|1 |The client computer opens an .asx file from an e-mail message, via UNC path, or from a Web |
| |page link. |
|2 |Windows Media Player extracts the URL to an .nsc file from the .asx file. The URL is the |
| |path provided by the Station information file URL screen in Station QuickStart wizard or the|
| |Station File Path property on the Edit Station page. |
|3 |Windows Media Player downloads the .nsc file and locates the IP address and port for the |
| |multicast. Windows Media Player listens to this IP address and port for data. If the Windows|
| |Media server sends data within a certain time interval, Windows Media Player renders the |
| |data and plays the stream. |
|4 |If Windows Media Player does not receive the data within the time limit, it looks up the |
| |unicast URL in the .nsc file (from Station properties), connects to the publishing point, |
| |and receives a unicast of the ASF stream. It displays an error message if no unicast URL is |
| |present. |
Understanding multicast stations
A station is used to multicast an ASF stream to a client, specifically Microsoft Windows Media Player. Multicasting minimizes the network bandwidth used. If clients do not use the station to receive the ASF stream, then each client requires its own connection to a server. This quickly consumes network bandwidth and limits the ability of the network to deliver information.
Distribution mode is a station characteristic that defines whether a station is to be used for multicasting, distribution, or both.
( Multicast stations deliver ASF streams to many clients but use only the bandwidth of a single stream.
( Distribution stations deliver ASF streams to other Windows Media servers via unicast. A station that is solely a distribution station does not have an IP address or port, so clients cannot view the stream that the station delivers.
( Stations enabled for multicast and distribution deliver ASF streams to other Windows Media servers via unicast. Clients can also view the ASF content on this station via multicast.
A station contains all the information needed to deliver an ASF stream to Windows Media Player, including IP address, port, stream format, time-to-live (TTL) value, and so on. This information is stored in an .nsc file.
Windows Media Player must be able to access the .nsc file so that it can locate the IP address that the station is using to stream ASF content. The .nsc file is typically made available to Windows Media Player from a shared network directory or from a Web server directory. Windows Media Player extracts the URL to the .nsc file when it opens an announcement that is delivered to it in an email message, via UNC path, or from a Web page link.
The Multicast Stations page in Windows Media Administrator is the access point for creating and managing stations. This page also provides an interface for organizing streams into the programs delivered on the stations you create.
Understanding distribution stations
A distribution station is a helper station. It delivers an ASF stream from Windows Media server A to a station on Windows Media server B so that Windows Media server B can multicast that ASF content. A distribution station provides a way to:
( Distribute a stream between network segments that are not connected by multicast-enabled routers.
( Distribute a stream past a firewall.
Other stations access the distribution station by creating a connection to the distribution station .nsc file using the MSBD protocol. For example, if you want Station2 on ServerB to multicast the ASF content from distribution station, Station1 on ServerA, you use Station1 as the stream source. That is, the stream source for Station2 is msbd://ServerA/Station1.
Note
When you distribute streams between servers, you must not exceed the distribution limit, the number of MSBD connections that a distribution station can accommodate. By default, a distribution station can support only five MSBD connections to other stations. As you configure stations on remote Windows Media servers to use a distributed ASF stream, you must adjust the distribution station Distribution Limit to accommodate the additional remote connections, or use more than one distribution station as the source for the remote station. For more information about adjusting the Distribution Limit, see Editing station properties.
Delivering streams over a non-multicast-enabled network
If your network does not use multicast routers, you can multicast a stream only within the network segment that contains Windows Media server components. Clients on other segments of the network cannot receive the ASF stream multicast because it does not originate within their segment.
Clients throughout the network can still receive the stream if the ASF content is multicast within the local segment, and distributed to Windows Media servers on the other network segments. The station on the local network segment must have both multicast and distribution capabilities to accomplish this.
For the other network segments on which you want to enable multicast streaming, you must install a separate computer running Windows Media server components. On each Windows Media server, use Station QuickStart wizard to create a station with multicast capabilities that uses the remote distribution station as the stream source. Each of these Windows Media servers then can multicast the ASF stream within its local segment.
Note
The stream format that was specified in the remote distribution station must be used for the multicast stations created in each network segment. For more information, see Importing a station.
Delivering streams through a firewall
If you do not have a Web server, but want to stream content across a firewall to a client, you can enable HTTP streaming on Windows Media server components. HTTP streaming is useful for delivering a stream through a firewall because HTTP streaming usually uses port 80 and most firewalls do not block port 80.
Windows Media server components contain two streaming services—Windows Media Station service and Windows Media Unicast service. Windows Media server components can be configured to use HTTP streaming, but only one streaming service (Windows Media Station service or Windows Media Unicast service) can use HTTP streaming at a time. This is because only one service can bind to port 80.
With IIS 4.0 or later, you can specify an IP address that Microsoft Internet Information Services (IIS) can use when it binds to port 80 to serve HTTP streams. The Windows Media Unicast or Windows Media Station service can then use another available IP address to stream ASF content via HTTP through port 80. For more information about using Windows Media Services and IIS on the same computer to stream ASF content via HTTP through port 80, see Using Windows Media server components and IIS on the same computer.
It is possible to configure HTTP streaming to use a different port, allowing Windows Media server components and another HTTP service (for example, Internet Information Services [IIS]) to run on the same computer. The only drawback is that most firewalls, by default, only allow HTTP traffic to pass through port 80.Therefore, this functionality is generally reserved for server-to-server distribution, reserving port 80 for direct server-to-client connections. For more information about configuring HTTP streaming to use a different port, see Using HTTP streaming.
Creating multicast stations with Windows Media Administrator
You can create a multicast station, a distribution station, or a station for multicast and distribution using the Configure and Publish Multicast Broadcast Streams QuickStart wizard on the Multicast Stations page in Windows Media Administrator, or you can use an advanced method to create one of these stations. If you use the wizard to create one of these stations, stream format information is added to the station definition on the Specify stream format information screen.
If you use the advanced method to create a station, it is possible to create the station without adding stream format information to the station definition, and the Windows Media server will play the program for this station. If you create a distribution station, other stations can receive the stream for distribution because stream format information is not required to distribute a stream. However, if you create a multicast station, multicast clients cannot connect to the station because all stream format information is missing.
To enable the multicast clients to render the multicast stream for the station, you must add stream format information for all of the streams in the program to the multicast station definition. If you do not add stream format information for all the streams in the program to the multicast station program definition, then the Windows Media server will not deliver the streams in the playlist for which stream format information was not added and will report the error, "The station does not support the stream format" in the status report for these streams on the Multicast Stations page.
If you create a station enabled for multicast and distribution, and you do not add the stream format information for all the streams in the program to the station definition, both multicast clients and distribution stations receive only the streams in the playlist for which stream format information is included in the station definition and fail to receive the rest of the streams.
For more information, see Adding stream format information.
Selecting stream sources for stations
When you create a station, you must provide the source URL and stream format information for the content that you are streaming. This content can be an .asf file, an .mp3 file, a stream from a Windows Media Encoder, a remote station, or a remote broadcast publishing point. The source URL is provided on the Specify a source URL for the stream object page in Configure and Publish Multicast Broadcast Streams QuickStart wizard. Next, the stream format information in provided on the Specify stream format information screen in the wizard.
Specifying the source URL for the stream object
The format of a URL to an .asf or an .mp3 file in the Home publishing point on a Windows Media unicast server must be :///. The format of a URL to an .asf or .mp3 file stored in any other publishing point must be :////. MMS protocol or HTTP (if the unicast server has been configured to stream via HTTP) is used.
The format of a URL to an installation of Windows Media Encoder must be ://[:port]. MSBD protocol or HTTP (if the encoder has been configured to stream via HTTP) are used. If the encoder does not use the default port (7007), then the correct port must be specified.
The format of a URL to a remote station must be :///. MSBD protocol is used.
The format of a URL to a broadcast publishing point must be :///. MMS protocol or HTTP (if the unicast server has been configured to stream via HTTP) is used.
Adding stream format information
Microsoft Windows Media Player uses stream formats to decode a multicast ASF stream. Stream formats are stored in the station .nsc file and can be downloaded to Windows Media Player. A stream format includes information about the stream, the media that the stream contains, and its codec. A stream format is required for every type of stream that plays through a station. If two or more stream objects are defined for a station and are using different codecs, bit rates, or frame sizes for the streams, then stream format information must be specified for both types of streams. If stream format information is either missing or incorrect for a stream in the program for a station, Windows Media Player either cannot start the stream or cannot play some of the streams in the program playlist. For more information, see Creating multicast stations with Windows Media Administrator.
If you use the Configure and Publish Multicast Broadcast Streams QuickStart wizard on the Multicast Stations page in Windows Media Administrator to create a station, stream format information is added to the station definition on the Specify stream format information screen.
If you are using the advanced method to create a station or if you are adding streams to an existing station, you must add stream format information to the station definition. For more information, see Editing station properties.
Creating unicast rollover for a multicast station
Unicast rollover can be used when Microsoft Windows Media Player cannot receive multicast packets from a station. This can occur, for example, because the network routers are not multicast-enabled, or because Windows Media Player is beyond the time-to-live (TTL) radius of the multicast. Unicast rollover will not occur when a multicast station streams no content because a multicast station emits beacon packets even if no program is defined for it. If Windows Media Player is within the TTL radius of the multicast, it binds to the beacon packets, which contain no content.
When Microsoft Windows Media Player opens an .asx file for a multicast station, the .asx file instructs Windows Media Player to download the .nsc file, which can contain a unicast rollover URL. If Windows Media Player cannot receive the ASF stream that is being multicast, it uses the unicast rollover URL to connect to the server and receive the stream from a broadcast unicast publishing point.
If you use Configure and Publish Multicast Broadcast Streams QuickStart wizard to create a station for multicast and distribution, the wizard creates a broadcast unicast publishing point (with an alias that is identical to the station name) that references the station. The wizard adds a unicast rollover URL to this broadcast unicast publishing point in the station definition.
If you use the wizard to create a multicast station, or if you use the advanced method to create a station for multicast and distribution or a multicast station, and you want to enable unicast rollover for your station, you must create a broadcast unicast publishing point that uses the multicast station as the stream source. For more information, see Using broadcast unicast publishing points. Then to enable unicast rollover for the station, you must supply a unicast URL to the broadcast unicast publishing point in the form mms://server_name/alias, where server_name is the name of the server that hosts the broadcast unicast publishing point and alias is the broadcast unicast publishing point alias. For more information, see Editing station properties.
Publishing station content
When you choose a publishing method, the wizard creates that .htm file or copies that HTML code to the Microsoft Windows clipboard, so that you can paste the code into an HTML page. An .asx file that points to the ASF stream is created by default; the following publishing methods provide the Web syntax that links to the .asx file.
Create an .htm file with an to the .asx file
Station QuickStart wizard prompts you for a location in which to save the .htm file, and to rename it if necessary. To make this file available to others, save it on a Web server. The default name of the .htm file is station_name_href_tag.htm.
To test the Web page created by this file, click Test .htm w/ HREF on the last screen of the wizard to open the sample Web page, which contains the link to the .asx file. Click the link to open Microsoft Windows Media Player. Windows Media Player accesses the station and plays the stream.
Create an .htm file containing and tags for Windows Media Player
Station QuickStart wizard prompts you for a location in which to save the .htm file, and to rename it if necessary. To make this file available to others, save it on a Web server. The default name of the .htm file is station_name_object_tag.
To test the Web page created by this file, click Test .htm w/ OBJECT on the last screen of the wizard to open the Web page in the browser. When the Web page opens, the Windows Media Player control appears. Windows Media Player automatically accesses the station and plays the stream.
Copy syntax to the Windows clipboard
This option inserts the name of and path to your .asx file in the code that creates a link to your station content. Paste this HTML code from Windows clipboard into any Web page to create a link to your station.
Copy and syntax to the Windows clipboard
This option inserts the name of the .asx file and the path to the .asx file into the code that embeds the Windows Media Player control. Paste this HTML code from the Windows clipboard into any Web page so that your station content is played automatically when the Web page is opened.
Editing station properties
The New Station page lets you enter individual station properties to create a station without using Station QuickStart wizard. The Edit Station page lets you view and edit the properties of an existing station. These two pages are identical, except that the property boxes in the New Station page are empty.
The station properties are described in the following table. The Name, Port, TTL, and Station File Path properties are required; you cannot create an .nsc file without filling in these boxes. The other properties are optional.
|Property |Definition of property |Example |
| |
|Name |Text that appears on the Microsoft Windows |Action News! |
| |Media Player Station tab. | |
|Description |Text that appears on the Windows Media |All the news for the greater |
| |Player Station tab. |tri-state area. |
|Contact Address |Text that appears on the Windows Media |action** |
| |Player Station tab. | |
|Contact Phone |Text that appears on the Windows Media |(123) 456-7890 |
| |Player Station tab. | |
|Contact E-Mail |Text that appears on the Windows Media |action**news@ |
| |Player Station tab. | |
|Distribution Mode |Distribution mode used by the station, | |
| |either Multicast, Distribution, or Both. | |
|Multicast IP |IP address used by the station. |For more information, see Setting |
| | |multicast destination IP address |
| | |and port. |
|Adapter Address |Number of the adapter address (or network |Default |
| |card). If you have only one network card, | |
| |use Default. | |
|Port |Port used by the station. |27125 |
|TTL |Number that represents the scope of the |For more information, see Setting |
| |multicast—any number from 1 through 255. |multicast scope. |
|Distribution Limit |Maximum number of distribution servers that |5 |
| |can connect to this server. When the source | |
| |server reaches the distribution limit, no | |
| |other servers can connect until another | |
| |distribution server disconnects. Used only | |
| |if the station is distributed to other | |
| |Windows Media servers. | |
|Unicast URL |Windows Media server and publishing point to|For more information, see Creating|
| |which clients automatically connect to |unicast rollover for a multicast |
| |receive unicast streams if they cannot |station |
| |receive a multicast. | |
|Station File Path |Network location where clients retrieve the | or |
| |.nsc file. Before you create a station, |\\server\share\file.nsc |
| |decide where to store station files. | |
| |Typically, this storage location is a | |
| |directory on a HTTP server. You must create | |
| |the directory and its storage location. | |
| |Windows Media Administrator asks you to | |
| |export the .nsc file that contains the | |
| |station property information. Export the | |
| |.nsc file to the directory that you stated | |
| |in the Station File Path dialog box. | |
|Logging URL |URL to the .dll file that the server uses to|For more information, see Logging |
| |generate logging files. This URL must be an |multicast client information. |
| |HTTP path. If you want to log station | |
| |information, make a logging component | |
| |available on either an HTTP server or a | |
| |shared directory. | |
|Enable Auto Archive |Option that creates an .asf file that stores| |
| |a copy of all the stream information that is| |
| |delivered on the station. Once you enable | |
| |auto-archiving, you can choose whether or | |
| |not to limit the size of the .asf file that | |
| |is created. In the Archive Directory box, | |
| |specify the directory where the .asf file is| |
| |to be created. Make sure that the directory | |
| |that you specify physically exists on the | |
| |destination drive; Windows Media | |
| |Administrator does not create this directory| |
| |for you. | |
|Add/Remove Stream |Formats in the list of stream formats that |To add the stream format for an |
|Format |the station can deliver. |.asf file to the list, a UNC path |
| | |to the .asf file to be streamed |
| | |must be provided. If Windows Media|
| | |Encoder is the stream source, and |
| | |the encoder was not set up using a|
| | |template stream format (TSF), then|
| | |a UNC path to the .asd file, which|
| | |describes the configuration for |
| | |the encoder, must be provided. |
Setting multicast destination IP address and port
A multicast program is directed to its destination by the station IP address and port. Clients receive the multicast program by instructing their network cards to listen for packets arriving at that IP address and port.
For ASF content, the destination IP address and port are set when you create the station in Windows Media Administrator using the Stations page. Clients learn which address and port to listen to by downloading the .nsc file.
You can create multiple programs destined for the same IP address; however, you must avoid multicasting programs to the same IP address simultaneously. For example, sending a file to the same destination as an audio multicast can interfere with the audio stream.
Multicast IP addresses range from 224.0.0.0 through 239.255.255.255. An IP address in the 239.*.*.* range is recommended for intranets. Avoid using addresses in the 224.*.*.* range. These are reserved for low-level protocols.
IP port numbers range from 1 through 65535.
Note
For file transfer streams, the destination IP address and port are set for each stream in a program when you add streams using the Multicast File Transfers page in Windows Media Administrator. In order for a client to receive the multicasts, the IP address and port you set for the file transfer stream must match the IP address and port specified by the client network card. For more information, see Configuring a multicast file transfer.
Setting multicast scope
You can limit the reach of a multicast to the immediate subnet or expand the scope to the entire Internet. The scope is set by specifying a time-to-live. This value, sometimes called the number of hops, decreases each time the multicast passes through a network router. When the value reaches 1, the router stops forwarding the multicast. Values can range from 1 through 255.
Windows Media Services provides the following default values for scope.
|Option |Value |
| |
|Local Network |5 |
|Intranet |32 |
|Internet |127 |
Because the number and configuration of routers in a network actually determine the value that must be used to limit the scope, you can set a custom value. Your network administrator can determine the value to use to limit the scope to your intranet.
Exporting a station
Exporting a station saves the station information as an .nsc file in a shared directory or Web directory that Microsoft Windows Media Player can access.
The .nsc file contains all the information that Windows Media Player needs to find and render the ASF stream. Typically, the player downloads this file from an HTTP server or a network share by opening an .asx file in email, on a Web page, or from a shared directory. The .asx file points to the .nsc file, which is downloaded to the client computer. Users must have at least read-access to any .nsc files stored on a network share.
Importing a station
Importing a station is the easiest way to make sure that the server can distribute a station. If you are setting up Windows Media server components to multicast streams that originate from a Windows Media distribution server, the stations you use to multicast must contain identical stream format information. Depending on your network configuration, the stations can use the same destination IP address and port for the multicast—for example, you can use the same address if it causes no conflict when the station multicasts to clients on an isolated subnet. Rather than recreate each station, you can import the .nsc file for each station, or you can import the station information directly from another Windows Media server.
Importing a station from a remote server
To import a station from a remote server, you connect to that server and the stations are listed for you; you do not need to know the location of the .nsc files. The .nsc file for a station on a remote server is not imported to a local directory. These files usually are stored on Web servers, and even though you have imported the station, the server is referencing the station information from its source.
Understanding programs and streams
As you configure Windows Media server components to deliver streaming media content to users, you must set up or configure three items: a station, a program, and a stream. After a station has been created, your next task is to create a program, a container that allows you to organize, group, and control ASF streams. Then, you must either create the streams for the program or use existing streams that are associated with other programs. You can associate more than one .asf file or stream with a program.
Sometimes you cannot control when a stream is started and stopped. For example, you cannot control when a remote installation of Windows Media Encoder starts and stops a live ASF stream. To control this live stream, you must associate it with a program that you can control. When you start and stop the program, you start and stop the encoded ASF content that is streaming over the network from the station.
Programs control streams in other ways. For example, a program can control how long and the number of times a stream can play.
Clients do not receive any streaming media until the program is started. Streams play in an order specified by the program. If a stream is not ready when the program reaches it, the program either waits for the stream or stops, depending on the setting of the Stop Program on Error check box for the program. If the program stops, the client eventually stops trying to access that stream.
Adding streams to a program
When you add a stream to a program, you must define the source URL or the alias of the stream content that you want to add and specify the station to be used to deliver the stream. Before you create a program and add streams to it, create a station that supports the appropriate formats for the streams you want to add to the program.
After you create a program, you can associate as many streams with it as needed. Often you can group streams because they logically go together. For example:
( Electoral candidate Number 1 presenting a live speech.
( An advertisement stored as a .asf file.
( Electoral candidate Number 2 presenting a live speech.
( An advertisement stored as a .asf file.
( Electoral candidate Number 3 presenting a live speech.
( Live closing comments from an election official.
To order and control these live and stored events, create a program and then add the streams to the program.
Defining sources for streams
When you add streams to a program, you must provide the source URL or the alias of the stream content that you want to add. The following types of streams can be added to a program:
( Live streams from Windows Media Encoder
( .asf, .mp3, or .wav files
( Windows Media stations
( Unicast streams from a broadcast unicast publishing point
Live streams from Windows Media Encoder
The source URL must be defined if the Windows Media server is to create the connection to Windows Media Encoder in order to stream ASF content when the program starts. The format of a URL to Windows Media Encoder must be ://[:port]. MSBD protocol or HTTP (if the encoder has been configured to stream via HTTP) are used. If the encoder does not use the default port (7007), then the correct port must be specified.
The source Alias must be defined when Windows Media Encoder has been configured to create the connection and deliver an ASF stream to the Windows Media server. The connection from Windows Media Encoder to a Windows Media server has a logical name or alias. Supply the name of the alias and the configuration is complete. The server uses the connection that Windows Media Encoder initiated to receive the ASF stream. You must define an alias on Windows Media Encoder before the program can be started.
.asf, .mp3, or .wav files
The source URL must be defined when adding an .asf, .mp3, or .wav file to a program. The format of an URL to a stored file in the Home publishing point on a Windows Media unicast server must be :///. The publishing point is omitted.
The format of a Windows Media URL to a stored file stored in any other publishing point must be :////. MMS protocol or HTTP (if the unicast server has been configured to stream via HTTP) is used.
Windows Media stations
The source URL must be defined when adding a station to a program. The format of a URL to a remote station must be :///. MSBD protocol is used.
Unicast streams from a broadcast unicast publishing point
The source URL must be defined when adding a unicast stream from a remote broadcast unicast publishing point to a program. The format of a URL to a remote broadcast publishing point must be :///. MMS protocol or HTTP (if the unicast server has been configured to stream via HTTP) is used.
Editing stream properties
After you have added a stream to a program, you can change its properties. You can do so only when the program is not playing. You can edit the properties on the Advanced tab while you are adding a stream to a program. The following table describes the properties of an ASF stream.
|Tab |Property |Definition |
| |
|General |Name |Name of the ASF stream. A stream is referenced in a list|
| | |of streams by its name. The name appears in the Clip box|
| | |of Microsoft Windows Media Player. |
|General |Description |Description of the ASF stream. The description is only |
| | |for use on a Windows Media server. This information is |
| | |not displayed on Windows Media Player. |
|Source/Destination |URL |URL to an .asf or .mp3 file, or ASF stream. For more |
| | |information, see Defining sources for streams. |
|Source/Destination |Alias |Alias of the installation of Windows Media Encoder used |
| | |as the source for the stream. For more information, see |
| | |Defining sources for streams. |
|Source/Destination |Station |The station that the ASF content streams over. An ASF |
| | |stream can be assigned to only one station. |
|Advanced |Save To ASF |Option that creates an .asf file from the ASF stream. |
|Advanced |ASF File |Path and a name for the .asf file created by Save to |
| | |ASF. |
|Advanced |Maximum Size |Size limit of the .asf file created by Save to ASF. Type|
| | |a number for the maximum size of the .asf file in |
| | |megabytes (MB). |
|Advanced |Duration |Option that sets a time limit for how long the ASF |
| | |stream is to be delivered over the network. If you |
| | |select this option, specify the maximum time limit in |
| | |hh:mm:ss (where hh=hours, mm=minutes, and ss=seconds). |
|Advanced |Open Timeout |Option that sets a time limit for how long the server is|
| | |to wait (on an error) before attempting to play the next|
| | |stream in the list. |
|Advanced |Ignore Source From |Option that ensures that a stream continues to play, |
| |Station Stop |even if the source stream stops temporarily. Select this|
| | |option if the source for the stream is another station. |
Editing program playlists
The streams in a program are played in the order shown in the playlist. When one stream ends, the next begins. You can change the order of streams in the list, and you can remove streams from the list when the program is not playing.
Announcing programs
Microsoft Windows Media Player requires a program announcement file to find the station on which the program is playing. Program announcements created by using Windows Media Administrator are files stored with an .asx extension. An announcement points to the .nsc file, which contains station information for the program, including the IP address, port, and stream format information. Windows Media Player uses the announcement to find the .nsc file and retrieve the station information.
After you create an announcement, you can distribute it in a variety of ways:
( Store it on Microsoft Internet Information Services (IIS) where users download the .asx file via HTTP.
( Store it in a public directory on a local area network where clients can access the .asx file using a UNC path.
( Distribute it through e-mail to clients. Users can run the .asx file directly from their e-mail program or save it to disk and run it later.
Note
Announcements are not used when multicasting file transfer streams. In those cases, a Microsoft ActiveX control (Nsfile.ocx) must be configured to receive the broadcast.
Saving a program
You archive a program to save a copy of the program properties. A program is archived as an .nsp file. When you archive a program, the station and streams associated with the program are not saved.
When you quit and then restart Windows Media Administrator, the programs you have created remain in the program list. If you want to save a copy of the program and use it again later (restore it), or you want to use it on a different server, archive it. When you archive a program, it is saved as a Windows Media program file with an .nsp file name extension. The streams associated with that program also are saved. Archiving a program does not remove it from the program list.
You can restore any archived Windows Media program. Restoring a program adds it to the list of programs and restores the streams associated with that program.
Editing program properties
You can change the properties of a selected program, including its name and play options. Stop the program before you change its properties. Streams associated with the program are not considered a property, and you cannot edit a stream via the Programs button.
Deleting a program
Deleting a program removes it from the list of available broadcast programs; the streams associated with the program also are deleted. You must stop a program before you can delete it.
Starting and stopping a program
Starting a program starts the first stream in the program. When the first stream ends, the next stream begins. The program ends when the last stream finishes. If you set the program to repeat, when the last stream ends, the first stream restarts automatically.
Stopping a program ends the broadcast. Clients that are listening stop receiving the stream. A program stops after the number of times specified in Play Options unless Play Forever is selected. You also can stop a program by clicking the Stop Program button on the Multicast Stations page.
Creating Welcome to Windows Media Services
As an exercise, this section contains instructions for creating the program Welcome to Windows Media Services. This program will contain three files installed with Windows Media server components: Welcome1.asf, Welcome2.asf, and Welcome3.asf.
In this exercise, you also will create a station that will stream the Welcome to Windows Media Services program. At the end of the exercise, you will open Microsoft Windows Media Player and receive a multicast or unicast of Welcome to Windows Media Services.
Creating the Welcome to Windows Media Services program
1. Create two shared directories, ASXfiles and NSCfiles, in the root drive on the local server. These directories will store .asx and .nsc files. For this procedure, anyone must be able to access these directories.
2. Enter the information below while following the steps in To create a multicast station using QuickStart. Use default values for all other options.
On the Create a new station screen:
( For Name, type Welcome.
( For Description, type A multicast and unicast station for delivering ASF files.
On the Specify a program and stream name screen:
( For Program Name, type Welcome to Windows Media Services.
( Clear Start program once wizard is finished.
( For Stream Name, type Welcome.
On the Specify a source URL for the stream object screen, append welcome1.asf to the URL for Source URL.
On the Specify stream format information screen, for Path, type the path to welcome1.asf in your Home publishing point.
On the Export path for the station information file screen, for Path, type \\server_name\NSCfiles\Welcome.nsc where server_name is the name of the local server, or type SystemDrive\NSCfiles\Welcome.nsc.
On the Station information file URL screen:
( Select the Use a network share path to the station information file check box.
( Type \\server_name\NSCfiles\Welcome.nsc where server_name is the name of the local server.
In the Save .asx file dialog box, for File name, type \\server_name\ASXfiles\Welcome where server_name is the name of the local server.
3. To add the stream welcome2.asf to the program Welcome to Windows Media Services, follow the steps in To add streams to a program. Enter the following information during this procedure; use default values for all other options.
( In the Name box, type Welcome2.
( In the Source/Destination URL box, type mms://server_name/welcome2.asf, where server_name is the name of the local server.
4. Repeat step 3 for Welcome3.asf.
5. Add the stream formats of the additional welcome*.asf files to the station Welcome.
( On the Multicast Stations page, double-click the station Welcome in the list of stations.
( On the Edit Station page, in Stream Formats, click Add.
( In the Add Stream Format File dialog box, find the welcome*.asf files that are stored in the Home publishing point (typically SystemDrive\ASFRoot). Select welcome2.asf and welcome3.asf, and then click Open. If the .asf files are not displayed, set the Files of type to ASF Files (*.asf).
6. On the Multicast Stations page, under Multicast ASF Programs and Streams, select Welcome to Windows Media Services from the list of programs and click Start Program.
A green arrow appears in the Status column in the list of programs and the list of streams.
7. Open Microsoft Windows Media Player on a separate computer.
( On the player File menu, click Open and type \\server_name\ASXfiles\welcome.asx, where server_name is the name of the server computer.
Windows Media Player buffers the information and then begins playing the first .asf file in the program Welcome to Windows Media Services . You can view the Status of the .asf files as they are streamed on the Multicast Stations page. Clients that use the .asx file to receive the .asf streams are receiving a multicast. If you want to view Welcome to Windows Media Services via unicast, open Windows Media Player, click File, click Open, and type mms://server_name/welcome, where server_name is the name of the Windows Media server computer.
Configuring a multicast file transfer
To create a multicast file transfer you must configure Windows Media server components to transfer the files and a file transfer ActiveX control (Nsfile.ocx) to receive the transferred files.
The server and client computer must be configured to use the same IP address; otherwise, the files cannot be transferred from the server to the client computer. The Windows Media server streams files to a multicast IP address in the range from 224.x.x.x to 239.x.x.x, where x is any number between 1 and 255. Physical devices cannot use an IP address in this range; therefore, data can be delivered to any of these addresses to be received by multicast clients.
To configure Windows Media server components to deliver a multicast file transfer, you must create a multicast file transfer program and then add one or more file transfer streams to the program. Programs and streams created for delivering ASF content cannot be used. The Multicast File Transfers page in Windows Media Administrator is used to create and edit the programs that transfer files.
The file transfer ActiveX control (Nsfile.ocx) is designed to monitor a specific IP address so that it can receive files transferred over a network. For more information, see Configuring Nsfile.ocx to receive a multicast file transfer.
Adding a file transfer stream to a program
Adding a file transfer stream to a program broadcasts a specified file, or files, to clients listening on the network. When adding a file transfer stream, you can:
( Transfer all files in a directory.
( Transfer a directory and all of its subdirectories and their files.
( Use wildcard characters to specify groups of files.
( Specify a file to be transferred by its URL.
( Specify a destination directory on the client by name or by environment variable.
( Rename a file when it is transferred.
( Transfer files with an appropriate URL to the cache in Microsoft Internet Explorer.
Using the file transfer Advanced tab
When creating a new file transfer program or editing an existing one, use the Advanced tab on the File Transfer page to set the following options:
( In the Multicast Adapter Address box, select the address of the network adapter to use for multicasting on your server. If your server has only one adapter, do not change the default selection. On computers with multiple adapters, use this option to multicast separate programs simultaneously by entering a different adapter address for each program.
( In the Maximum Bandwidth box, enter the maximum amount of bandwidth to be used to multicast the file.
When multicasting to clients that are connected to the network via modem, entering values ranging from 10 kilobits per second (Kbps) to 20 Kbps are recommended.
When multicasting to clients on a typical Ethernet local area network, entering values of less than 1,000 Kbps is recommended.
( In the Redundancy box, set the amount of error correction to be used when broadcasting the program.
The value that you type in the Redundancy box is rounded up to the next percentage. The setting for redundancy can range from 0.4 percent through 100 percent.
While higher percentages of error correction help to ensure that the client receives the file correctly, they also increase the time it takes to send the file. For example, 100 percent redundancy doubles the time it takes to send a file.
( In the Duration box, type the length of time for which the stream is to run. Use the format hh:mm:ss, where hh represents hours, mm represents minutes, and ss represents seconds
( In the Logging box, create a log of the multicast file transfer. Type the path and file name for the log file in the File Path box. When the file transfer occurs, a log file containing a list of the files transferred and the destination information for each file is created.
( Click Fully Reliable to enable fully reliable file transfer.
Fully reliable file transfer allows clients to request the server to resend data that they failed to receive. After receiving a resend request, the server multicasts the requested data to all clients. Using fully reliable file transfer can increase the network bandwidth used by the system.
Configuring Nsfile.ocx to receive a multicast file transfer
Nsfile.ocx is a file transfer ActiveX control that allows broadcast files to be received over networks. The standard way to use this control is to embed it in a Web page and place that page on a Web server. A user downloads the Web page that contains the embedded control to receive the multicast file transfer.
Setting the properties of the control so that it can receive files is not within the scope of this documentation. The Windows Media Technologies Software Development Kit (SDK) provides samples that show how to program the control in HTML and Microsoft Visual Basic, Scripting Edition (VBScript). Nsfile.ocx and the Windows Media Technologies SDK can be downloaded from the Windows Media Technologies page at the Microsoft Web site.
Managing station connections
MSBD connections made by Windows Media server components, Windows Media Encoder, and Microsoft Windows Media Player to a station can be monitored using the Station Connections page in Windows Media Administrator. This page displays all connections to the server, including recent connect and disconnect events. These connections count against the station distribution limit.
Station connections do not include clients that connect to on-demand or broadcast unicast publishing points. Also, a station connection does not refer to clients that receive an ASF stream via multicast.
You also can specify a period of time before the list of station connections is refreshed, clear the list of recent connect and disconnect events, and terminate MSBD connections to the Windows Media server.
Refresh the station connections list
By default, the Station Connections list is refreshed every 30 seconds. You can edit the time interval at which the list is refreshed by entering a new value in the seconds box for Auto-refresh. To refresh the list of clients manually, disable Auto-refresh and then click Refresh.
Clear the list of connect/disconnect events
You can clear all entries from the list showing recent connect and disconnect events. Clear the list of events when the existing list is outdated or too long.
Terminate MSBD connections to a station
Because other servers or clients that connect to a station count against the distribution limit of that station, you sometimes must terminate those connections.
To terminate a single connection, on the Station Connections page, select the connection you want to terminate, and click Terminate selection. To terminate all connections, click Select All, and then click Terminate selection.
Managing station streams
The ASF streams that a station uses as its source can be monitored using the Station Streams page in Windows Media Administrator. You also can use this page to terminate the ASF stream connection. To view the ASF streams that stations are using, click Station Streams in the Windows Media Administrator menu frame. The Station Streams page appears and automatically displays the active stations and the streams that are being delivered.
The Station Streams page provides the following information about the station streams.
|Column label |Description |
| |
|Stream ID |A unique number that identifies the ASF stream. |
|Station |The name of the station. |
|State |The four states of the station: Open, Closed, |
| |Streaming, and Restarting. |
|Stream Source |The URL that the station uses to receive the stream |
| |source. |
Terminating station streams
Close a station connection to an ASF stream by clicking the station in the list, and then clicking Terminate Selection.
Refreshing the list of station streams
The Station Streams list is refreshed every 30 seconds by default. You can change the refresh interval by entering a new value in Auto-refresh. To refresh the list of station streams manually, disable Auto-refresh, and then click Refresh.
Troubleshooting stations
Some common problems that can occur while creating or using stations are listed in the following table.
|Problem |Possible solution |
| |
|You do not know what to type in a box |Use wizard to create new station was not selected when you |
|on the New Stations page. |started creating a new station. If you use Station QuickStart |
| |wizard, many of the station properties are set for you, and the |
| |properties that you must set are described in detail. |
| |For more information about station properties, see Editing |
| |station properties. |
|You have created a station that |Verify that Windows Media Encoder still is encoding. |
|references a live stream from Windows |Verify that the station is using the correct stream reference |
|Media Encoder, but the stream does not|(.asd file). The station must reference the same .asd file that |
|start. |the encoder is using. |
|No streams appear in the list of |Click the program that you created. The stream should appear. |
|streams after you have finished | |
|creating a station, program, and | |
|stream. | |
|Clients cannot access a multicast |Clients cannot access the .asx file. You must provide the .asx |
|stream. |file to users either in an e-mail message, embedded in the |
| |document, or in a directory. |
| |Clients cannot access the .nsc file. You must store the .nsc |
| |file on an HTTP server or a shared directory. If the HTTP server|
| |is not running or the directory where the .nsc file is located |
| |is not shared to all, then the client cannot access the .nsc |
| |file and receive the multicast. |
| |Stream format information is missing from the multicast station |
| |definition. For more information, see Adding stream format |
| |information. |
| |Network routers are not multicast-enabled. Routers must be |
| |multicast-enabled for the stream to pass from subnet to subnet. |
| |A firewall separates the client from the server. Firewalls must |
| |be configured to allow multicast streaming. |
| |The time-to-live (TTL) value is not set high enough to allow the|
| |stream to travel to the client. |
|The station audio or video is |To verify that it is not a problem with the station, use |
|distorted or missing. |Microsoft Windows Media Player to connect directly to Windows |
| |Media Encoder to test the stream. You should see or hear the |
| |same problems. |
Windows Media event monitors
Event monitors are used to display overall system activity, including client connections, server status and limits, and administrative functions.
How to. . .
This section lists the procedures that are most commonly performed while using Windows Media Unicast Event Monitor and Windows Media Station Event Monitor. Use the procedures to quickly accomplish a task. This procedure list precedes the overview information that explains Windows Media event monitors in more detail. If you want to learn more about Windows Media event monitors, continue past the procedures and read the overview information.
To start Windows Media Unicast Event Monitor
In the Windows Media Administrator menu frame, click Publishing Point Events.
To filter unicast event messages
1. In the Windows Media Administrator menu frame, click Publishing Point Events.
The Publishing Point Events page appears.
2. On the Publishing Point Events page, click Properties.
The Properties dialog box appears. By default, all Filter Events are selected so that all events are displayed.
3. Clear the Filter Events check boxes for the types of event messages you do not want to receive.
To limit unicast event messages that are displayed
1. In the Windows Media Administrator menu frame, click Publishing Point Events.
2. On the Publishing Point Events page, click Properties.
3. In the Properties dialog box, enter the number of unicast event messages that you want to remain available for display in the Set maximum buffer size box.
To control scrolling of unicast event messages
1. In the Windows Media Administrator menu frame, click Publishing Point Events.
The Publishing Point Events page appears.
2. To stop the scrolling of events in the display, on the Publishing Point Events page, click Pause; to restart scrolling, click Resume Trace.
To clear unicast event messages from the display
1. In the Windows Media Administrator menu frame, click Publishing Point Events.
The Publishing Point Events page appears.
2. On the Publishing Point Events page, click Clear.
All event messages are removed from the event monitor display.
To open a new Windows Media Unicast Event Monitor window
1. In the Windows Media Administrator menu frame, click Publishing Point Events.
The Publishing Point Events page appears.
2. On the Publishing Point Events page, click New Window.
You can move and resize this window.
To start Windows Media Station Event Monitor
In the Windows Media Administrator menu frame, click Station Events.
To filter station event messages
1. In the Windows Media Administrator menu frame, click Station Events.
The Station Events page appears.
2. On the Station Events page, under Configure Monitor Options, select the type of events that you want to monitor.
To set station event message colors
1. In the Windows Media Administrator menu frame, click Station Events.
The Station Events page appears.
2. On the Station Events page, under Configure Monitor Options, click the event message type for which you want to set a color.
3. In the Color dialog box, click the color you want to use.
To control scrolling of station event messages
1. In the Windows Media Administrator menu frame, click Station Events.
The Station Events page appears.
2. To stop the scrolling of events in the display, on the Station Events page, click Pause Scrolling; to restart scrolling, click Scroll.
To clear station event messages from the display
1. In the Windows Media Administrator menu frame, click Station Events.
The Station Events page appears.
2. On the Station Events page, click Clear All.
All messages are removed from the window.
To open a new Windows Media Station Event Monitor window
1. In the Windows Media Administrator menu frame, click Station Events.
The Station Events page appears.
2. On the Station Events page, click New Window.
You can move and resize this window.
Monitoring Windows Media unicast events
Windows Media Unicast Event Monitor in Windows Media Administrator is used to display event activities for a publishing point. To monitor Windows Media server unicast events, you must be a member of the NetShow Administrators group on the server that you want to monitor.
Managing the Windows Media unicast event display
Windows Media Unicast Event Monitor receives Administrator, Alert, Client, and Server events for on-demand and broadcast publishing points. You can choose which of these event types you want to monitor and the number of event messages to be displayed. By default, all four event types are monitored and 200 event messages are displayed. The display buffers event messages up to the number shown in the Set maximum buffer size box, entering each event as it occurs at the top of the display. After the buffer limit is reached, event entries are deleted from the bottom of the display as new ones are entered at the top.
If a Windows Media server is busy, events sometimes are displayed too rapidly to be read. You can pause and restart the scrolling of messages in the display window. Events continue to be recorded while scrolling is stopped. You also can clear old messages from the display window.
You can monitor unicast events on the server while using another Windows Media Services function. You can open a new monitor window that remains open while you perform other Windows Media Services tasks.
Note
If the Windows Media server CPU load is near capacity, monitoring a large number of events can cause Windows Media Unicast Event Monitor to backlog events, and can cause virtual memory problems. To alleviate this, you can filter unwanted events. However, the long-term solution is to improve the performance of the server processor so that it can process other tasks while it monitors your unicast events.
Windows Media unicast event messages overview
Windows Media Unicast Event Monitor in Windows Media Administrator monitors and displays messages for Administrator, Alert, Client, and Server events. The date and time of each event is displayed with the message.
Administrator events
|Event |Message |
| |
|OnAdminBandWidthLimit |Administrator set the maximum bandwidth or the maximum bandwidth |
| |for publishing point alias to rate in (kilobits per second) Kbps. |
| |Reported when you change the maximum aggregate bandwidth for the |
| |server or for a publishing point. |
|OnAdminClientLimit |Administrator set the maximum clients or the maximum clients for |
| |publishing point alias to number of clients. Reported when you |
| |change the client limit for the server or for a publishing point. |
|OnAdminFileBitRateLimit |Administrator set the maximum file bit rate to rate in Kbps. |
| |Reported when you change the maximum bit rate for a single file. |
|OnAdminKillClient |Administrator has terminated client client ID. Reported when you |
| |terminate a client connection to the publishing point. |
Alert events
|Event |Message |
| |
|OnMaxBandwidth |Maximum bandwidth exceeded. Current limit rate in (kilobits per second) |
| |Kbps. |
|OnMaxClients |Maximum allowed clients exceeded or maximum allowed clients for publishing |
| |point alias exceeded. Current limit: number of clients. Shows the current |
| |setting for the maximum number of clients for the server or for a publishing|
| |point, whichever limit was exceeded. |
|OnMaxFileBitRate |An attempt has been made to play a file that exceeds the maximum bit rate. |
| |The current maximum is rate in Kbps. |
Client events
The client ID is a number assigned to the client by Windows Media server components.
|Event |Message |
| |
|OnClientConnect |Client client ID connected at IP Address address number and Port port |
| |number. |
|OnClientDisconnect |Client client ID disconnected from IP Address address number and Port port |
| |number. |
|OnClientPlay |Client client ID playing title: file name and path. |
|OnClientStop |Client client ID stopped playing title: file name and path. |
|OnClientStride |Client client ID seeking in file: file name and path. The client is seeking |
| |a location in an indexed .asf file using either fast forward or rewind. |
Server events
|Event |Message |
| |
|OnServerFault |Triggered when a fatal problem has occurred with the Windows Media Unicast |
| |service. NSTrace and NSLog need to look up the description for the error. |
|OnServerOffline |The server is offline. Indicates that the Windows Media Unicast service has |
| |stopped. |
|OnServerOnline |The server is online. Reported after restarting the Windows Media Unicast |
| |service. For example, after you apply an authentication package, you must |
| |restart the Windows Media Unicast service to enable the changes. |
Monitoring Windows Media station events
Windows Media Station Event Monitor in Windows Media Administrator is used to display Windows Media server station events. To monitor station events, you must be a member of the NetShow Administrators group on the server that you want to monitor.
Managing the Windows Media station event display
Windows Media Station Events Monitor receives messages for Client, Stream, and Station events. By default, all message types are selected. You can select which types of messages you want to display. To easily distinguish between message types in the display, you can select a different color for each message type.
If a Windows Media server is busy, events sometimes appear too rapidly to be read. You can pause and restart message scrolling in the display window. Events continue to be recorded while scrolling is stopped. You also can clear old messages from the display window.
You might want to monitor unicast events on the server while using another Windows Media Services function. You can open a new monitor window that remains open while you perform other Windows Media Services tasks.
Windows Media station event messages overview
The following table shows the messages that are displayed when you are monitoring Windows Media server station events. The monitoring tool displays events as text messages. The date and time of each event is displayed with the message.
|Event type |Message |
| |
|Station |New station added. Station name is station name. |
|Station |Station has been deleted. The station name was station name and the description was |
| |station description. |
|Station |Station property changed. Station name is station name. |
|Stream |Stream from source stream alias or stream URL on station station name activated. |
|Stream |Stream from source stream alias or stream URL on station station name deactivated. |
|Stream |New stream opened. Stream source is stream alias or stream URL. |
|Stream |Stream closed. The stream source was stream alias or stream URL and the description |
| |was stream description. |
|Stream |Stream has started. Stream source is stream alias or stream URL. |
|Stream |Stream has stopped. Stream source is stream alias or stream URL. |
|Stream |Stream property changed. Stream source is stream alias or stream URL. |
|Stream |Stream archive closed. |
|Client |Client connected. The client address/port is IP Address/Port. |
|Client |Client disconnected. The client address/port is IP Address/Port. |
Windows Media performance counters
Performance counters for Windows Media server components can be viewed in Windows Media Performance Monitor.
Windows Media Performance Monitor is installed when you install Windows Media component services. It uses the wmtperf.msc file, which contains a customized set of performance counters that are specific to Windows Media server components.
How to. . .
This section lists the procedures that are most commonly performed while monitoring performance counters for the Windows Media Unicast service and the Windows Media Station service. Use the procedures to quickly accomplish a task. This procedure list precedes the overview information that explains the performance counters in more detail. If you want to learn more about performance counters for Windows Media component services, continue past the procedures and read the overview information.
To start Windows Media Performance Monitor
Click Start, point to Programs, point to Administrative Tools, and then click Windows Media Performance.
The Performance Monitor window appears, displaying the wmtperf.msc file settings, which include Windows Media Unicast service and Windows Media Station service performance counters.
Windows Media Unicast service performance counters
The following links describe the Windows Media Unicast service performance counters. The first link points to a table that lists the counters that are enabled in the performance monitor by default; the second link points to table that lists additional counters that you can add to the display in the performance monitor.
( Default performance counters overview
( Optional performance counters overview
Default performance counters overview
|Performance counter |Description |
| |
|Active Live Unicast Streams |Number of live unicast streams that are being streamed. |
|Active Streams |Number of active files or streams being sent to clients. Provides |
| |an overall indicator of system activity. Note that a client is |
| |connected even if it has stopped playing a file because the Windows|
| |Media Unicast service maintains the bandwidth allocation to that |
| |client for 60 seconds after the client stops playing (this is |
| |called the Client Inactivity Time-out period). When the Client |
| |Inactivity Time-out period expires, the server actively checks the |
| |status of each client by periodically sending a message to each |
| |client. The server keeps a client connection open as long as the |
| |client responds to a message within three minutes (this is called |
| |the Client Terminal Time-out period ). |
|Active TCP Streams |Number of TCP streams currently being sent to clients. |
|Active UDP Streams |Number of UDP streams currently being sent to clients. |
|Aggregate Read Rate |Sum of the read rates for all files being sent to clients, in bits |
| |per second (bps). Indicates the speed at which the server is |
| |reading data from the disk. The graph usually appears jagged |
| |because the block read time is shorter than the block sends. |
|Aggregate Send Rate |Sum of the send rates for all files being sent to clients, in bits |
| |per second (bps). Indicates the speed at which the server is |
| |sending data to the clients. The graph should appear relatively |
| |smooth; a jagged graph can indicate that streams are competing for |
| |bandwidth. |
|Connected Clients |Number of clients currently connected. Indicates all Microsoft |
| |Windows Media Player connections to the system. This includes |
| |clients streaming, clients in paused and connected states, and |
| |clients that the server has not yet detected as being disconnected.|
| |The latter condition can occur if a client has lost power or has |
| |been disconnected from the network and has not been able to notify |
| |the server of termination. After the Client Inactivity Time-out |
| |period has elapsed (60 seconds), the Windows Media Unicast service |
| |actively checks the status of each client by periodically sending a|
| |message to each. Clients must reply to the message within three |
| |minutes in order to maintain their connection to the server (this |
| |is called the Client Terminal Time-out period). |
|Connection Rate |Rate at which clients are connecting to the server. This is used to|
| |gate the number of instantaneous connections being serviced by the |
| |server. The default is 25 connections per second. This counter is |
| |useful for correlating client connections with use of system |
| |resources. |
|HTTP Streams |Number of active HTTP streams currently being sent to clients. |
|Late Reads |Number of late read completions per second. A late read is a disk |
| |read operation that takes significantly longer than expected to be |
| |completed. Typically, this counter is not equal to zero when the |
| |server is under a very heavy load. If this counter is often not |
| |equal to zero, the system may not be properly configured, or other |
| |applications are competing with Windows Media server components for|
| |use of the disk. |
|Pending Connections |Number of clients attempting to connect to the server that are not |
| |yet connected. This number can be high if the server is running |
| |near maximum capacity and cannot process a large number of |
| |connection requests in a timely manner. |
|Stream Errors |Number of errors occurring per second. Stream errors represent the |
| |number of stream data packets discarded by the server. They are |
| |introduced by the server when it cannot keep up with the demand for|
| |data and must throw some packets away to avoid running behind |
| |schedule indefinitely. Stream errors show up most often after late |
| |reads occur. They indicate that the system is not configured |
| |properly or that other applications are competing for system |
| |resources. Heavy network traffic can also contribute to stream |
| |errors. |
Optional performance counters overview
|Performance counter |Description |
| |
|Allocated Bandwidth |Amount of bandwidth that the server allocates, based on the number |
| |of current Microsoft Windows Media Player connections. Generally, |
| |clients connected to a Windows Media server that are not receiving |
| |streams still are allocated bandwidth. If Windows Media Player has |
| |allocated bandwidth but does not send a command during the Client |
| |Inactivity Time-out period (60 seconds), its bandwidth is |
| |de-allocated. |
|Authentication Requests |Number of times an authentication plug-in is called to authenticate|
| |a client. Depending on the protocol in use, either HTTP or MMS, a |
| |single client can be authenticated once or several times when |
| |accessing each piece of unicast content. This is a general |
| |indicator of how often authentication plug-ins are used. |
|Authentications Denied |Number of times clients are denied access to unicast content by |
| |authentication plug-ins. Clients are denied access by an |
| |authentication plug-in when their IDs cannot be verified, no user |
| |accounts exist, or the authentication plug-in is not working. |
|Authorization Requests |Number of times an authorization plug-in is called to authorize a |
| |client. Each client action, such as opening or playing unicast |
| |content, is separately authorized; therefore, the total number of |
| |authorization requests is greater than the number of connected |
| |clients. This is a general indicator of how often authorization |
| |plug-ins are used. |
|Authorizations Refused |Number of times clients are denied access to unicast content by |
| |authorization plug-ins. Plug-ins will deny access to clients based |
| |on their function; for example, a billing plug-in can deny client |
| |access to unicast content if the user account contains insufficient|
| |funds. |
|HTTP Streams Reading Header |Number of clients connected to the server via HTTP and reading a |
| |file header, but not yet streaming the unicast content. The sum of |
| |HTTP Streams Reading Header and HTTP Streams Reading Body is the |
| |total number of clients connected to the server via HTTP, as |
| |indicated by HTTP Streams. |
|HTTP Streams Reading Body |Number of connected clients that have read the file header and are |
| |actively streaming unicast content via HTTP. The sum of HTTP |
| |Streams Reading Body and HTTP Streams Reading Header is the total |
| |number of clients connected to the server via HTTP, as indicated by|
| |HTTP Streams. |
|Plug-in Errors |Number of times the plug-ins fail to perform their function. For |
| |example, a plug-in cannot reach its user database, the plug-in |
| |crashes, and so on. |
|Plug-in Events |Number of events reported to plug-ins. This is an indicator of how |
| |much the server is using external plug-ins. |
|Scheduling Rate |Rate at which requests are being made for tasks to be scheduled, in|
| |tasks per second. Scheduled tasks include reading data from the |
| |disk and writing data to the network. The scheduling rate is |
| |roughly proportional to the rate at which packets are being sent by|
| |the server (this rate does not represent a one-to-one |
| |correspondence). |
|Stream Terminations |Rate at which streams are terminated due to errors. Stream |
| |terminations indicate that the system is not configured properly, |
| |or that the file being streamed is corrupted. The server |
| |unilaterally terminates a stream under certain circumstances—most |
| |commonly when the server is running significantly behind schedule. |
| |If the server must throw away several packets in a row from a given|
| |stream to remain on schedule, it terminates the stream. Streams |
| |also can be terminated if invalid data is encountered during file |
| |streaming. |
|UDP Resend Requests |Number of times clients request that the Windows Media server |
| |resend data packets that were not received. This value can be high |
| |when the server cannot send packets via UDP reliably. This is a |
| |good indicator of server or network overload. |
|UDP Resends Sent |Number of UDP Resend Requests processed by the Windows Media |
| |server. Not all UDP Resend Requests are processed if the server is |
| |under a heavy load. |
Windows Media Station service performance counters
The following table describes the Windows Media Station service performance counters. All of these counters appear in Windows Media Performance Monitor by default.
|Performance counter |Description |
| |
|Stations |Number of station objects that currently exist in the server. |
|Controllers |Number of controllers currently connected to the server. |
|Streams |Number of stream objects that currently exist in the server. |
Information logs
Windows Media server components stores information about the clients that view ASF streams in information logs. This information can be used to determine which .asf file is watched most often, how long a client receives an ASF stream, the IP address of the client receiving an ASF stream, the Internet service provider (ISP) a client is using, and so on.
Clients that view unicast ASF streams are connected to the Windows Media server. Windows Media Services is installed ready to log unicast client information. For more information, see Logging unicast client information.
Clients that view multicast ASF streams are not connected to the Windows Media server. However, information logs can be generated on clients that receive a multicast ASF stream. The Windows Media server must be configured before a multicast client information log can be generated. For more information, see Logging multicast client information.
Client information is not entered into a log file if the client uses the MSBD protocol to connect to a unicast publishing point or multicast station.
How to. . .
This section lists the procedures that are most commonly performed while logging unicast and multicast client information. Use the procedures to quickly accomplish a task. This procedure list precedes the overview information that explains logging in more detail. If you want to learn more about logging, continue past the procedures and read the overview information.
To log unicast client information
1. In the Windows Media Administrator menu frame, click Server Properties.
The Server Properties page appears.
2. On the Server Properties page, click the Publishing Point Logging tab.
3. To enable logging, select the Enable logging check box.
4. Under Period, select an interval (Daily, Weekly, or Monthly) or a maximum size for the log file.
5. In the Log file directory box, enter the location where the log file will be stored.
6. Click Apply to begin logging unicast client information.
Note
A unicast client information log file name has the format NetShow.yymmddiii.log, where yy is the year, mm is the month, and dd is the day. The iii extension specifies the version of the file if more than one log file is generated in a calendar day.
To log multicast client information
1. Verify that the directory containing the Windows Media Internet Server Application Programming Interface (ISAPI) extension (Nsiislog.dll) is shared as a Web directory. Network clients must be able to access this file.
2. In the Windows Media Administrator menu frame, click Multicast Stations.
The Multicast Stations page appears.
3. Under Stations, click the station for which you want to create the logging file, then click Stations, and then click Properties.
The Edit Station page appears.
4. On the Edit Station page, in Logging URL, type the URL to Nsiislog.dll and then click OK.
For example, type , where server_name is the name of the Microsoft Internet Information Services (IIS) computer. You are not required to have Nsiislog.dll on the same computer as the Windows Media server; however, Nsiislog.dll must be installed in a directory that is Web-accessible.
5. When you are prompted, save the changes to the .nsc file.
Notes
This procedure assumes that you have installed Windows Media server components on a computer on which IIS already is installed. For more information, see Logging multicast client information.
A multicast client information log file name has the format NetShow.yymmddiiii.log, where yy is the year, mm is the month, and dd is the day. The iiii extension specifies the version of the file if more than one file is generated in a calendar day.
Logging unicast client information
Windows Media Administrator can log information on activities generated by clients that connect to your unicast publishing points. The unicast client information log file is a text file that contains fields delimited by a space. If you do not have an application designed to read log files, you can open the log file with Microsoft Notepad. If you want to arrange the information in rows and columns, you can also open the file in Microsoft Excel. For a description of the content that is stored in a log file, see Windows Media log file reference.
The unicast client information log file stores entries over a period of time that you select, or until it reaches a size that you specify. It is stored in a location that you choose on the Windows Media server being administered. For more information about setting the following options, see To log unicast client information.
|Option |Description |
| |
|Enable logging |This option starts or stops logging. By default, Enable logging is disabled. |
|Period |This option generates new logs using the specified frequency. The service closes|
| |the log file and creates a new one with a different name in the same folder when|
| |the appropriate interval or file size is reached. For the Daily, Weekly, or |
| |Monthly options, the log file is closed the first time a log record is generated|
| |after midnight on the last day of the current log file. The log file name is |
| |NetShow.yymmddiii.log, where yymmdd is the year, month, and day when the log |
| |file is created and iii is a number that starts at 000 and increases by one for |
| |every log generated on the current date. |
| |If you prefer to generate log files by size, select When file size reaches and |
| |enter a value between 8 kilobytes (KB) and 1,000,000 KB inclusive. |
| |A new log file is generated each time the service starts, regardless of this |
| |setting. |
|Log file directory |This option specifies the server directory containing the log file. By default, |
| |the directory used is SystemRoot\system32\logfiles. |
Notes
If you are using a remote administrator computer, the path referenced in the Log file directory dialog box is the path on the server computer, not the administrator computer.
Client information is not entered into the log file if the client uses the MSBD protocol to connect to a unicast publishing point.
Logging multicast client information
Logging multicast client information lets you view information about the client that is receiving the ASF stream and the client connection. Use the Windows Media Internet Server Application Programming Interface (ISAPI) extension (Nsiislog.dll) for logging multicast client information. If Windows Media server components are installed on a computer where Internet Information Services (IIS) is already installed, Nsiislog.dll is installed in both the SystemDrive\SystemRoot\system32\Windows Media\Server directory and the SystemDrive\Inetpub\scripts directory. If IIS is not installed on the server computer, then Nsiislog.dll is installed in the SystemDrive\SystemRoot\system32\Windows Media\Server directory only. For information on how to add logging to a station, see To log multicast client information.
You also can write a Common Gateway Interface (CGI) script to generate a log.
When logging is enabled on a station, a log file is saved to SystemRoot\system32\logfiles. The log file name is NetShow.yymmddiiii.log, where yymmdd is the year, month, and day when the log file is created and iiii is a number that starts at 0000 and increases by one for every log generated on the current date.
The log file is a text file that contains fields delimited by a space. If you do not have an application designed to read log files, you can open the log file with Microsoft Notepad. If you want to arrange the information in rows and columns, you can also open the file in Microsoft Excel. For a description of the content that is stored in a log file, see Windows Media log file reference.
Note
Client information is not entered into the log file if the client uses the MSBD protocol to connect to the multicast station.
Analyzing Windows Media log files
The user experience is defined as all actions a user performs on the client while viewing a stream. If the client is connected to an on-demand unicast publishing point, a single user experience can include multiple entries in the unicast client information log file. For example, if a user plays an .asf file for one minute, rewinds it, plays the .asf file again for 10 seconds, fast-forwards it, and then plays the rest of the file, those actions (play, rewind, play, fast-forward, play, and stop) generate five entries in a unicast client information log file. If other clients are connected to the Windows Media server and other client activities are being logged, the entries for one user experience might not appear together in the log.
If the client is connected to a broadcast unicast publishing point or to a multicast station, the user experience recorded in the unicast client information log file or the multicast client information log file contains just one entry because the user cannot fast-forward, rewind, or pause a live stream; the user can only stop a live stream. The log file entry is generated when the user stops the client that is streaming the live content.
A client does not physically connect to the Windows Media server to stream a multicast; therefore, entries in a multicast client information log are blank for fields that store information about the client-server connection. For more information, see Scenario 3: the user experience for a multicast.
Notes
The log file is a space-delimited text file that you can import into a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet. Then you can sort the log file entries in the Excel spreadsheet by field types. For more information, see Finding the user experience in a Windows Media log file.
Additional Windows Media Technologies software, including log analysis tools, is available from third parties. For more information, see the Windows Media Technologies page at the Microsoft Web site.
Finding the user experience in a Windows Media log file
To view a user experience in a Windows Media log file, you can rearrange the rows based on the fields c-dns or c-playerid (user) and cs-uri-stem (stream) in Microsoft Excel. The c-dns field identifies the client computer according to the domain name system (DNS) and can be useful in identifying a user; however, it is possible for a user to stream content using more than one client on the client computer. The c-playerid field is unique; therefore, entries with the same c-playerid were generated by the same client. The field cs-uri-stem contains information about the content that was streamed: an .asf file for an on-demand unicast, a unicast URL for a broadcast unicast, or an .asx file for a multicast. A log file arranged in this manner shows the user experience: a list of users or clients, the content that was streamed, and the sequence of events each client took to stream the content. For more information, see Understanding the user experience in a Windows Media log file.
Note
Before sorting the log file, remove the #Fields: heading in the Excel spreadsheet by selecting the cell and, on the Edit menu, using the Delete command with the Shift cells left option. This matches the field headings with their values.
Understanding the user experience in a Windows Media log file
Three fields in a Windows Media client information log file show the sequence of events that each client performed to view a stream: c-starttime, x-duration, and c-rate.
For an on-demand .asf file, the value for c-starttime is the timestamp (in seconds) of the on-demand .asf file when an action (stop, pause, fast-forward or rewind) was performed on the client. For a broadcast unicast or multicast stream, c-starttime is always zero.
The value for x-duration is the time (in seconds) that the client viewed the stream. Clients are considered to be viewing the stream even while fast-forwarding or rewinding the stream; therefore, the time (in seconds) that is skipped when a client fast-forwards or rewinds through an indexed .asf file is logged for x-duration.
The value for c-rate is a code for the client event that generates a log file entry. When a user views a broadcast unicast or multicast stream, c-rate is always 1 because the client cannot pause, fast-forward, or rewind a live stream; it can only stop the stream. When a user views an on-demand unicast stream, c-rate can take on several values:
|C-rate |Definition |
| |
|1 |The user viewed the stream for x-duration. |
|-5 |The user viewed the stream for x-duration while rewinding. |
|5 |The user viewed the stream for x-duration while fast-forwarding. |
When two consecutive entries for a user experience in a unicast client information log contain c-rate equal to 1, the user viewed the content for a length of time equal to the value of x-duration in the first entry before either stopping or pausing the client. The action performed can be determined from the second entry:
( If c-starttime in the second entry is zero, then the user stopped the client.
( If c-starttime in the second entry is the sum of c-starttime and x-duration in the first entry, then the user paused the client.
If the last entry for a user experience in a unicast client information log contains c-rate equal to 1, then the user viewed the content for a length of time equal to the value of x-duration for that entry before either stopping or closing the client.
Note
When two consecutive entries for a user experience in a unicast client information log contain c-rate equal to 1, but c-starttime in the second entry is either greater than or less than the sum of c-starttime and x-duration in the first entry, then the user used the Seek bar on the client to fast-forward or rewind the on-demand unicast stream. Using the Seek bar to fast-forward or rewind an on-demand unicast stream does not generate fast-forward or rewind information in the unicast client information log.
Scenario 1: the user experience for an on-demand unicast
Jim connects to a Windows Media server, begins streaming a 60-second .asf file (an .asf file with a filelength value of 60), and performs the following activities on the client:
( Pauses the .asf file after it streams for ten seconds.
( Presses Play.
( Presses REW when the .asf file reaches 40 seconds and rewinds the .asf file back to 20 seconds.
( Presses FF when the .asf file reaches 30 seconds and fast-forwards up to 40 seconds.
( Allows the stream to play until it stops at one minute (60 seconds).
A portion of the unicast client log file entries for this user experience is shown in the following table.
|c-starttime |x-duration |c-rate |Description |
| |
|0 |10 |1 |Jim plays the .asf file for 10 |
| | | |seconds and then pauses the stream. |
|10 |30 |1 |Jim plays the .asf file for 30 |
| | | |seconds. |
|40 |20 |-5 |Jim rewinds the .asf file from 40 |
| | | |seconds to 20 seconds, using the REW |
| | | |button on the client. |
|20 |10 |1 |Jim plays the .asf file for 10 |
| | | |seconds. |
|30 |10 |5 |Jim fast-forwards the .asf file from |
| | | |30 seconds to 40 seconds, using the |
| | | |FF button on the client. |
|40 |20 |1 |Jim plays the remainder of the .asf |
| | | |file. The client stops streaming at |
| | | |the end of the .asf file. |
Jim streamed the entire file (60 seconds) and reviewed the file between the 20- and 30-second timestamps (10 seconds); therefore, Jim viewed the .asf file in normal playback mode for 70 seconds. If you want to consider rewind and fast-forward as part of the viewing experience, you can also add the x-duration value while Jim rewound the file (20 seconds) and the x-duration value while Jim fast-forwarded the file (10 seconds). This brings the total viewing time (the sum of all values for x-duration) to 100 seconds for this user experience. If you do not want to consider rewind or fast-forward as part of the viewing experience, you can ignore all log entries where c-rate contains values of -5 (rewind) or 5 (fast-forward).
Scenario 2: the user experience for a broadcast unicast
Maria connects to a Windows Media server, opens a link to a live multicast stream via unicast (broadcast unicast), and streams it on Microsoft Windows Media Player for five minutes. A portion of the unicast client log file entry for this user experience is shown in the following table.
|time |c-starttime |x-duration |c-rate |Description |
| |
|18:10:57 |0 |300 |1 |Maria connects to a live multicast |
| | | | |stream via unicast (broadcast |
| | | | |unicast) and plays it for five |
| | | | |minutes, then presses Stop on the |
| | | | |client. |
An entry appears in a unicast client information log file when Maria clicks Stop on the client or closes the client. The actual time that Maria connected to the broadcast unicast can be determined by subtracting the value in x-duration from the value in time in the unicast client information log file.
Maria connected to a broadcast unicast publishing point on the Windows Media server to stream the live multicast; therefore, the fields in the unicast client information log that store information about the client/server connection are filled. For more information, see Scenario 3: the user experience for a multicast.
Scenario 3: the user experience for a multicast
Marsha connects to a Windows Media server, opens a link to a multicast stream, and streams it on Microsoft Windows Media Player for three minutes. A portion of the multicast client log file entry for this user experience is shown in the following table.
|time |c-starttime |x-duration |c-rate |Description |
| |
|21:10:00 |0 |180 |1 |Marsha connects to a live multicast |
| | | | |stream at 9:07 P.M. Greenwich mean |
| | | | |time and plays it for three minutes, |
| | | | |then presses Stop on the client. |
An entry appears in a multicast client information log file when Marsha clicks Stop on the client or closes the client. The actual time that Marsha connected to the multicast can be determined by subtracting the value in x-duration from the value in time in the multicast client information log file.
The client does not physically connect to the Windows Media server to stream a multicast; therefore, entries in a multicast client information log are blank for the following fields, which store information about the client-server connection:
( s-cpu-util
( s-dns
( s-ip
( s-pkts-sent
( s-totalclients
( sc-bytes
For more information, see Windows Media log file reference.
Understanding lost packets
Packet loss can occur in a stream from server to client because of network congestion, router problems, and so on. Packets are also considered lost by the client if they arrive too late to be played on time. The following diagram shows how packets that are sent by a Windows Media server can arrive at the client. The Windows Media client information log file fields that appear in the diagram are described below the diagram. [pic]
You can use a Windows Media client information log file to determine if any packets were lost, where the loss occurred, and if any packets were recovered. The following log file fields show how many packets were lost, where they were lost, and if an attempt was made to recover the lost packets:
|s-pkts-sent |Packets sent by a Windows Media server to a connected client. In a |
| |multicast client information log file, this field contains no value |
| |because a client does not connect to the server to view a multicast |
| |stream. |
|c-pkts-received |Packets (s-pkts-sent) that are received by the client correctly on the |
| |first try. Packets that are not received correctly on the first try can |
| |be recovered if they are resent via UDP. UDP resend is available if the |
| |MMS protocol is used to stream your content. Packets that are not |
| |recovered via UDP resend are considered to be lost in the network and |
| |can be recovered if error correction is turned on for an .asf file or a |
| |multicast stream. |
|c-pkts-recovered-resent |Packets (s-pkts-sent) that are not received by the client correctly on |
| |the first try but are recovered because the client asked the Windows |
| |Media server to resend them via UDP. |
|c-pkts-lost-net |Packets that are not recovered using UDP resend. These packets are |
| |considered lost in the network. These packets can still be recovered if |
| |error correction is turned on for an .asf file or a multicast stream. |
|c-pkts-recovered-ECC |Packets lost in the network (c-pkts-lost-net) that were repaired and |
| |recovered at the client layer because error correction was used. Error |
| |correction is the only means of packet recovery for multicast streams. |
|c-pkts-lost-client |Packets lost that were not recovered at the client layer via error |
| |correction or at the network layer via UDP resends, during transmission |
| |from server to client. These packets are sent by the Windows Media |
| |server but never played by the client. |
|c-pkts-lost-cont-net |Maximum number of packets lost by the network in a row. If the value is |
| |high, the network conditions were bad, with long periods of time during |
| |which no packets were received at the client. |
If neither of the recovery methods succeeds (error correction or UDP resend), then users have no chance to improve their viewing experience, that is, to recover lost packets.
Windows Media log file reference
The log files created when you enable unicast or multicast logging are text files that contain fields delimited by a space. The following table contains a list of each field, a description, and a sample value for each entry that can be found in a log file.
|Field |Description |Sample value |
| |
|audiocodec |Audio codec used in stream. |Voxware_MetaSound |
|avgbandwidth |Average bandwidth (in bits per second) at |24300 |
| |which the client was connected to the | |
| |server. | |
|c-buffercount |Number of times the client buffered while |4 |
| |playing the stream. | |
|c-bytes |Number of bytes received by the client |28583 |
| |from the server. For a unicast, c-bytes | |
| |and sc-bytes must be identical. If not, | |
| |packet loss occurred. For more | |
| |information, see Understanding lost | |
| |packets. | |
|c-cpu |Client computer CPU type. |Pentium |
|c-dns |Client computer DNS name. |tokyo2. |
|c-hostexe |Host application. For example, a Web page |iexplore.exe |
| |in a browser (iexplore.exe), a Microsoft | |
| |Visual Basic applet (vb.exe), or | |
| |stand-alone Microsoft Windows Media Player| |
| |(mplayer2.exe). | |
|c-hostexever |Host application version number. |4.70.1215 |
|c-ip |Client computer IP address. A client that |157.56.219.146 |
| |is not connected properly provides a | |
| |client proxy server IP address, not the | |
| |client IP address. | |
|c-os |Client computer operating system. |Windows_NT |
|c-osversion |Client computer operating system version |4.0.0.1381 |
| |number. | |
|c-pkts-lost-client |Number of packets lost during transmission|5 |
| |from server to client and not recovered at| |
| |the client layer via error correction or | |
| |at the network layer via UDP resends. | |
|c-pkts-lost-cont-net |Maximum number of continuously lost |2 |
| |packets on the network layer during | |
| |transmission from server to client. | |
|c-pkts-lost-net |Number of packets lost on the network |2 |
| |layer. Packets lost at the network layer | |
| |can be recovered if the client recreates | |
| |them via forward error correction. The | |
| |difference between c-pkts-lost-net and | |
| |c-pkts-lost-client is | |
| |c-pkts-recovered-ECC. | |
|c-pkts-received |Number of packets from the server |50 |
| |(s-pkts-sent) that are received correctly | |
| |by the client on the first try. | |
|c-pkts-recovered-ECC |Number of packets repaired and recovered |3 |
| |on the client layer. Packets repaired and | |
| |recovered at the client layer are equal to| |
| |the difference between c-pkts-lost-net and| |
| |c-pkts-lost-client. | |
|c-pkts-recovered-resent |Number of packets recovered because they |5 |
| |were resent via UDP. | |
|c-playerid |Globally unique identifier (GUID) of the |{c579d042-cecc-11d1-bb31-00a0c9603|
| |player. |954} |
|c-playerlanguage |Client language-country code. |en-US |
|c-playerversion |Version number of the player. |6.2.5.415 |
|c-quality |The percentage of packets that were |96 |
| |received by the client, indicating the | |
| |quality of the stream. | |
| |If cPacketsRendered is all packets | |
| |received by the client, including packets | |
| |recovered by error correction and UDP | |
| |resend (c-pkts-received + | |
| |c-pkts-recovered-ECC + | |
| |c-pkts-recovered-resent), then c-quality | |
| |can be calculated as: | |
| |[cPacketsRendered / (cPacketsRendered + | |
| |c-pkts-lost-client)] * 100. | |
|c-rate |Mode of Windows Media Player when the last|1 |
| |command event was sent. | |
| |1 = Windows Media Player was paused or | |
| |stopped during a play, fast-forward, | |
| |rewind, or marker jump operation. | |
| |-5 = Windows Media Player was rewound from| |
| |a play, stop, or pause operation. | |
| |5 = Windows Media Player was | |
| |fast-forwarded from a play, stop, or pause| |
| |operation. | |
|c-resendreqs |Number of client requests to receive new |5 |
| |packets. This field contains a value only | |
| |if the client is using UDP resend. | |
|c-starttime |Timestamp (in seconds) of the stream when |0 |
| |an entry is generated in the log file. | |
|c-status |Codes that describe client status. Mapped |200 |
| |to HTTP/1.1 and RTSP client status codes | |
| |described in Request for Comments (RFC) | |
| |2068 and RFC 2326. | |
| |Windows Media Services includes the | |
| |extensible client status codes 480 | |
| |(simultaneous client connections exceeded | |
| |the maximum client limit of the server) | |
| |and 483 (stream exceeded maximum file bit | |
| |rate limit of the server). | |
|c-totalbuffertime |Time (in seconds) the client used to |6 |
| |buffer the stream. If the client buffers | |
| |the stream more than once before a log | |
| |entry is generated, c-totalbuffertime is | |
| |the total amount of time the client spent | |
| |buffering the stream. | |
|channelURL |URL to the .nsc file. A unicast client | |
| |information log file records a “-“ for | |
| |this field. | |
|cs(Referer) |URL to the Web page in which Windows Media| |
| |Player was embedded (if it was embedded). | |
|cs-uri-stem |Name of the file that is playing, an .asf |mms://zanzibar/sample.asf |
| |file for a unicast and an .asx file for a | |
| |multicast. | |
|cs(User-Agent) |Browser type used if Windows Media Player |Mozilla/4.0_(compatible;_MSIE_4.01|
| |was embedded in a browser. |;_Windows_98) |
|date |Date (in Greenwich mean time) when an |1999-04-19 |
| |entry is generated in the log file. | |
|filelength |Length of the file (in seconds). This |60 |
| |value is 0 for a live stream. | |
|filesize |Size of the file (in bytes). This value is|86000 |
| |0 for a live stream. | |
|protocol |Protocol used to access the stream: mms, |mms |
| |http, or asfm (multicast protocol). | |
|s-cpu-util |Average load on the server processor |40 |
| |(0%-100%). If multiple processors exist, | |
| |this value is the average for all | |
| |processors. | |
|s-dns |Server DNS. |media. |
|s-ip |Server IP address. |224.24.41.189 |
|s-pkts-sent |Packets sent by the server. |55 |
|s-totalclients |Clients connected to the server (but not |20 |
| |necessarily receiving streams). | |
|sc-bytes |Bytes sent by the server to the client. |30000 |
|time |Time (in Greenwich mean time) when an |15:30:30 |
| |entry is generated in the log file. | |
|transport |Transport protocol used to deliver the |UDP |
| |stream (UDP, TCP, or UDP over IP | |
| |multicast). | |
|videocodec |Video codec used to encode the stream. |Microsoft_MPEG-4_Video_Codec_V2 |
|x-duration |Length of time a client played content |31 |
| |prior to a client event (FF, REW, Pause, | |
| |Stop, or jump to marker). A log entry is | |
| |generated whenever one of these client | |
| |events occurs. | |
Windows Media administration and security
This section contains information about the administration and security features in Windows Media Services.
How to. . .
This section lists procedures that are commonly performed while administering and securing a Windows Media server. Use the procedures to quickly accomplish a task. This procedure list precedes the overview information that explains Windows Media Services administration and security in more detail. If you want to learn more about Windows Media administration and security, continue past the procedures and read the overview information.
To change the account or password used by Windows Media component services
1. Open Control Panel.
2. In Control Panel, double-click Administrative Tools, and then double-click Services.
3. In Services, right-click the name of a Windows Media service (either the Monitor, Program, Station or Unicast service), and then click Properties.
4. In Service Properties, click the Log On tab.
Under Log On As, you can change the account used by the service as well as the password.
Note
Perform this procedure for all of the Windows Media component services (Windows Media Monitor service, Windows Media Program service, Windows Media Station service, and Windows Media Unicast service); otherwise, the server may not be able to deliver content to Microsoft Windows Media Player.
To apply an authentication package
1. In the Windows Media Administrator menu frame, click Server Properties.
The Configure Server - Server Properties page appears. The content on the General tab appears by default.
2. Click the Publishing Point Security tab.
3. Select an Authentication Package from the list.
4. Click Apply.
The Windows Media Administrator box opens, and prompts you to confirm that you want to apply the authentication package that you selected.
5. Click Yes.
The status of the authentication package you selected is Pending. You must restart the Windows Media Unicast service for this change to take effect. Before proceeding to the next step in this procedure, perform the steps in To restart the Windows Media Unicast service .
6. Click Refresh.
The content frame is refreshed. The Status of the authentication package you selected is Active.
Note
When an authentication package is Active, you can use access control list (ACL) checking by selecting the Enable Access Control List (ACL) checking check box. For more information, see Restricting access to ASF streams.
To restart the Windows Media Unicast service
1. Open Control Panel, double-click Administrative Tools, and then double-click Services.
2. In Services, select Windows Media Unicast Service. Its status is Started.
3. Click Restart to stop and restart the service.
A message appears, indicating that the service is being stopped and then restarted.
To set access permissions for on-demand publishing points and .asf files
1. Activate an authentication package for the Windows Media Unicast service by following the steps in To apply an authentication package.
2. Select the Enable Access Control List (ACL) checking check box.
3. Find the publishing point directory or .asf file to which you want to restrict access on the server computer. Right-click the directory or file.
A Properties page appears.
4. Click the Security tab on the Properties page.
The Permissions page for the directory or file opens. By default, everyone has full access to the publishing point directory or .asf file.
5. Click Remove to remove the Everyone group from the Permissions list.
6. On the Permissions page, click Add to add Windows Media Services to the Permissions list.
( On the Add Users and Groups page, select the server computer in the List Names From box, and then click Show Users.
( Click the Windows Media Services account name in the Names list, and then click Add. This account hosts the Windows Media Unicast, Station, Monitor, and Program services, and has Read access to the publishing point directory or file. The Windows Media Services account NetShowServices is created during installation of Windows Media Services. If you specified a different Windows Media Services account after installation, click that account name in the Names list.
7. On the Permissions page, click Add to add the user or group of users to the Permissions list.
( On the Add Users and Groups page, select the domain that hosts the user or group of users that you want to allow access to the directory of file, and then click Show Users.
( Click the name of the user or group in the Names list, and then click Add. By default, the user or group has Read access to the publishing point directory or file.
Note
Access permissions are set for stored content on an NTFS file system partition by assigning an ACL for the .asf file or the physical directory where the file is stored. You can also set access permissions for on-demand content stored on a FAT partition by setting an ACL for the registry key associated with the on-demand unicast publishing point. You cannot use an ACL without enabling an authentication mechanism because unknown users cannot be authorized.
To set access permissions for broadcast unicast publishing points
1. Start Registry Editor (Click Start, click Run, and then type regedt32).
2. In Registry Editor, use the tree view to navigate through the following path:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\nsunicast\Parameters\Virtual Roots.
A virtual root exists for all publishing points, including on-demand publishing points.
3. Select the virtual root whose permissions you want to set.
4. On the Registry Editor Security menu, click Permissions.
The Registry Key Permissions page opens.
5. Create the permissions for the broadcast publishing point.
Notes
You can set permissions based on individual user, group, or domain. For more information on providing permissions, click Help in the Registry Key Permissions dialog box.
Your ability to make changes to the registry by using Registry Editor depends on your access permissions. Incorrectly editing the registry can severely damage your system. Before making changes to the registry, back up any valued data on the computer.
To add an IP address to an access list
1. Start Registry Editor (Click Start, click Run, and then type regedit).
2. In Registry Editor, use the tree view to navigate through the following path:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\NetShow\AccessLists.
3. To work with one of the access lists, click the appropriate registry key:
( AllowDistribution
( AllowUnicastClients
( DisallowDistribution
( DisallowUnicastClients
4. On the Edit menu, point to New, and click String Value.
5. Type the value of the IP address you want to add to the list in the Name column, and press Enter.
Notes
After you have added an IP address to an access list, you can add a mask to it to specify a range of IP addresses.
Your ability to make changes to the registry by using Registry Editor depends on your access permissions. Incorrectly editing the registry can severely damage your system. Before making changes to the registry, back up any valued data on the computer.
To specify a range of IP addresses in an access list
1. Start Registry Editor (Click Start, click Run, and then type regedit).
2. In Registry Editor, use the tree view to navigate through the following path:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\NetShow\AccessLists.
3. To work with one of the access lists, click the appropriate registry key:
( AllowDistribution
( AllowUnicastClients
( DisallowDistribution
( DisallowUnicastClients
4. In the Name column, click the IP address.
5. On the Edit menu, click Modify.
The Edit String dialog box appears.
6. In the Value Data box, type the mask value.
The mask value is added to the Data column.
Notes
Like an IP address, the mask is a 32-bit value. To set a range of addresses, each bit in the mask is compared to the corresponding bit in the IP address. Where the value in the mask is 1, the corresponding bit in the IP address is included in the list. Where the value in the mask is 0, any value is acceptable. For example, in decimal notation, if the IP address in the list is 134.123.123.20 and the mask is 255.255.255.0, all IP addresses from 134.123.123.0 to 134.123.123.255 are included in the list. If the mask is 255.255.255.128, all IP addresses from 134.123.123.0 to 134.123.123.127 are included in the list. If you specify an invalid mask, the mask is ignored.
Your ability to make changes to the registry by using Registry Editor depends on your access permissions. Incorrectly editing the registry can severely damage your system. Before making changes to the registry, back up any valued data on the computer.
To edit an IP address in an access list
1. Start Registry Editor (Click Start, click Run, and then type regedit).
2. In Registry Editor, use the tree view to navigate through the following path:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\NetShow\AccessLists.
3. To work with one of the access lists, click the appropriate registry key:
( AllowDistribution
( AllowUnicastClients
( DisallowDistribution
( DisallowUnicastClients
4. In the Name column, click the IP address.
5. On the Edit menu, click Rename.
6. Edit the value in the Name column, and press Enter.
Note
Your ability to make changes to the registry by using Registry Editor depends on your access permissions. Incorrectly editing the registry can severely damage your system. Before making changes to the registry, back up any valued data on the computer.
To remove an IP address from an access list
1. Start Registry Editor (Click Start, click Run, and then type regedit).
2. In Registry Editor, use the tree view to navigate through the following path:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\MICROSOFT\NetShow\AccessLists.
3. To work with one of the access lists, click the appropriate registry key:
( AllowDistribution
( AllowUnicastClients
( DisallowDistribution
( DisallowUnicastClients
4. In the Name column, click the IP address.
5. On the Edit menu, click Delete.
6. In the Confirm Value Delete dialog box, click Yes.
Note
Your ability to make changes to the registry by using Registry Editor depends on your access permissions. Incorrectly editing the registry can severely damage your system. Before making changes to the registry, back up any valued data on the computer.
To modify the Membership Server Instance used by the HTTP-BASIC authentication and Membership Service account database authentication package
1. Start Registry Editor (Click Start, click Run, and then type regedit).
2. In Registry Editor, use the tree view to navigate through the following path:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\NetShow\Servers\Default\Authentication\HTTP Basic-Membership.
3. Add a string value (reg_sz) with the name VirtualServerInstance and a data value that corresponds to the instance number of your Membership server.
To determine the instance number of the Membership server you want to use, open a command prompt, change directories to \Siteserver\bin\P&M, and type:
PMAdmin list instance
4. Enter the number associated with the instance of the Membership server you want to use in the Data field for the VirtualServerInstance value just created.
Note
Your ability to make changes to the registry by using Registry Editor depends on your access permissions. Incorrectly editing the registry can severely damage your system. Before making changes to the registry, back up any valued data on the computer.
Managing the Windows Media component services account
Windows Media server components consists of the Windows Media component services (the Windows Media Monitor service, Windows Media Program service, Windows Media Station service, and Windows Media Unicast service) and the Windows Media Administrator.
The Windows Media component services use a Windows2000 Server user account created for them when Windows Media server components are installed to log on to the system when the Windows Media server starts. The installation process creates the NetShowServices user account by default. The user account is added to the local NetShow Administrators and Administrators groups, and it is assigned administrative privileges on the Windows Media server.
Windows Media server components cannot stream files if the account used by the component services is not an Administrator equivalent. The account must have at least Read rights to the publishing point directory (unless it is a disk drive on the same computer), network share, or remote location, so that ASF content can be read from this location for streaming.
Note
When the default NetShowServices user account is created, a randomly generated password is assigned to it and to each of the Windows Media component services. If you change the account password, you also must change the passwords for the component services, or they fail to log on and function. If you are using a domain account for the Windows Media component services, you must change the password for the component services on every computer where Windows Media server components is installed. For more information, see To change the account or password used by Windows Media component services.
Managing the Windows Media component services account in a multiple-server environment
When Windows Media server components is installed on servers in a multiple-server environment, a NetShow Administrators group is created in the local account database on each server, thus making the account unique to that server. The Windows Media component services on each server log on using the rights assigned from this group.
Even if you use the default NetShowServices account and change the password for the Windows Media component services on each server so that the passwords are identical, the local component services cannot interact with the component services on another server because the account for the component services is not a member of the NetShow Administrators or Administrators group on the remote server. Therefore, you must use a domain account for the Windows Media component services, which is added to the NetShow Administrators group on each server. Or you can add the local account used by the Windows Media component services to the NetShow Administrators group or Administrators group on each server in the multiple-server environment.
You must use a domain account if you plan to store on-demand unicast content on remote servers. The Windows Media Unicast service must have at least Read rights to the directory defined as the location of a publishing point. The domain account used for the Windows Media component services also must belong to a local group on the server where the content is stored for on-demand streaming, or have rights assigned at the share level.
Administering Windows Media server components
Windows Media Administrator is installed with Windows Media Services. You can run Windows Media Administrator on Microsoft Windows2000 Server, Microsoft Windows2000 Professional, Microsoft Windows 98, or the Microsoft WindowsNT version 4 operating system with Service Pack 4 (SP4) or later. Users with administrator-equivalent rights on the computer where Windows Media server components is installed can administer that Windows Media server.
Administering Windows Media server components locally
If you plan to administer Windows Media server components by logging on to the computer where it is installed, you should add your account to the Administrator or Power Users (in Windows 2000) group on that computer. Users that have these rights can run Windows Media Administrator and fully configure Windows Media server components.
Logging on locally with a local account does not give you access to any network resources; you only can create publishing points that point to a directory residing on a storage device controlled by the local computer. The NetShow Administrators group does not give permissions to the file system, so you also must have rights to create directories and place files on the disk drive in that computer.
Administering Windows Media server components remotely
If the Windows Media server is a member of a domain, a user can log on to any computer in the domain (or fully trusted domain) using a domain user account, and administer Windows Media component services. Windows Media Administrator must be installed on the remote computer. The domain user account must be a member of a local group on the Windows Media server that has administrative rights to the Windows Media component services. The NetShow Administrators group and the Administrators group grant sufficient rights to administer Windows Media component services. To create domain user accounts that can administer Windows Media component services, you must have administrative rights for the domain.
You also can create a domain group account for administering Windows Media component services, and add the group to the local NetShow Administrators group. You can perform Windows Media administrative tasks both locally and remotely by logging on to a domain with an account that is a member of a domain group belonging to the local NetShow Administrators group.
Making a domain user or group account a member of the NetShow Administrators group does mean a user has full control of the Windows Media server. The NetShow Administrators group grants only the rights necessary for Windows Media Services tasks, which include creating publishing points for on-demand unicast streams, enabling or disabling authentication packages, managing stations, and so on. Domain users that do not have Write rights to a physical directory on that computer cannot create directories to define as publishing points.
If the Windows Media server or the remote computer is not a member of a Microsoft Windows domain, you still can administer the Windows Media server from the remote location. To administer Windows Media component services from the remote computer, you must create an account, including the password, on the remote computer that is identical to an account on the Windows Media server. You also must be able to access the Windows Media server (for example, both computers must be connected to the Internet if you want to perform remote administration over the Internet). You must install Windows Media Services administration components on the remote computer and connect to the server where Windows Media server components are installed by supplying the IP address of the Windows Media server.
Administering Windows Media component services remotely with DCOM
The distributed Component Object Model (DCOM) can be used for remote administration of Windows Media component services. If you want to use DCOM for remote administration through a firewall, you must enable ports on the firewall that allow DCOM packets to pass through. Due to the number of ports required for DCOM, remote administration through a firewall is not recommended.
In order for successful remote administration of Windows Media component services to occur, you must open the ports used by DCOM on your firewall server. If you have problems streaming information through a firewall, you can open different ports on your firewall. Consult your firewall vendor to decide if you need to adjust your firewall to allow DCOM traffic for remote administration of Windows Media server components. DCOM requires all ports in the range from 1024 through 5000 and port 135 for remote procedure call (RPC) end point mapping to be open to communicate with Windows Media component services.
When using DCOM for remote administration of Windows Media component services, a computer outside of the firewall must be able to access the computer inside the firewall by its real IP address. Address translation and proxying are not supported.
Restricting access to ASF streams
Windows Media Services can be configured to restrict access to a stored on-demand .asf file by requiring that users be authenticated before the file is streamed to the user. Windows Media Services also uses access control list (ACL) checking in Windows2000 Server to set access permissions on individual .asf files stored in on-demand and broadcast unicast publishing points. Access to live streams from a broadcast unicast publishing point can be restricted by applying access permissions to the registry key associated with the publishing point. Access to Windows Media stations can be restricted by assigning an ACL to the .nsc file stored on a Web server.
Perhaps the simplest method of controlling access to ASF streams is to block client and server connections to the Windows Media server. You can control client and server connections to the Windows Media server based on the IP address of the client or server attempting to connect.
Setting up unicast publishing point security
Windows Media component services can require that clients be authenticated before accessing a stream. Authentication is not enabled by default when Windows Media component services is installed; however, you can enable one of the three authentication packages installed with Windows Media Administrator for on-demand unicast streaming:
( HTTP-BASIC Authentication and Membership Service Account Database
( HTTP-BASIC Authentication and NTLM Account Database
( Microsoft Windows NTLM Authentication and Account Database
HTTP-BASIC authentication provides a standard way to validate HTTP users by using encoded clear-text passwords and user names. To play ASF content from a publishing point, the client must supply a user name and password. HTTP-BASIC authentication is ideal for Internet applications.
NTLM authentication uses an encrypted challenge/response scheme to authenticate the user who is logged on to the client computer. Challenge/response authentication is performed without transferring user credentials, so that the Windows Media server cannot access the user name or password. Challenge/response uses established user logon information; therefore, it requires the client and server to be on the same or trusted domains and is better suited for intranet applications.
Only one type of authentication can be presented to the client at a time, so the type must be determined before any attempt is made to authenticate the client.
As part of unicast publishing point security, you can enable access control list (ACL) checking for any of the authentication packages. You cannot use ACL checking without enabling an authentication mechanism because unknown users cannot be authorized. The account used by the Windows Media services may also need to be added to the ACL. For information on ACL checking, see Using access control list (ACL) checking.
Using HTTP-BASIC Authentication with the Membership Service Account Database
When this authentication package is enabled, the authentication mechanism verifies the client by checking client credentials against user accounts stored in the Microsoft Membership Services database. Microsoft Membership Services must be installed and running on the server; otherwise, the authentication package will fail to load. If you use the HTTP-BASIC and Membership Service Account Database authentication package, you cannot configure the Microsoft Membership service to use a Microsoft Windows NTLM account database for user authentication.
Note
If HTTP-BASIC Authentication and Membership Service Account Database is used for authentication, the second virtual server instance of the Membership server is used by default; therefore, a second virtual server instance must be created or the registry key for the virtual server instance must be modified so that the first virtual server instance is used. If you are using a Membership database for authentication in an Internet scenario, you must use a database other than the local Microsoft Windows NTLM database because Internet users do not have a domain account on your computer. For more information, see To Modify the Membership Server Instance used by the HTTP-BASIC Authentication and Membership Service Account Database
Using HTTP-BASIC Authentication with the NTLM Account Database
When this authentication package is enabled, the Windows Media server looks for user account information on the local computer. If you want to check another domain, that domain must be specified. For example, you must supply a user name of domain\username where domain is the new domain that you want to check and username is the user name found in that domain.
Using access control list (ACL) checking
Using access control list (ACL) checking, you can set permission restrictions on individual .asf files and on directories. You can restrict access to multiple files simultaneously by assigning an ACL to the directory where the files are stored. You can set an ACL for stored content on an NTFS file system partition by assigning an ACL for the .asf file or the physical directory where the file is stored. You can also set an ACL for on-demand content stored on a FAT partition by setting an ACL for the registry key associated with the on-demand unicast publishing point. You cannot use ACL checking without enabling an authentication mechanism because unknown users cannot be authorized.
Note
If the source of a broadcast unicast publishing point is a live stream, the content is never stored on a physical storage device. If a file is not stored, you cannot assign an ACL to it. To restrict access to a broadcast unicast stream, you must use Registry Editor to apply access permissions to the registry key associated with the broadcast unicast publishing point. You can also restrict access to Windows Media stations by assigning an ACL to the .nsc file stored on a Web server.
Restricting connections to Windows Media server with access lists
You can control client and server connections to Windows Media server components based on the IP address of the client or server attempting to connect. This method allows you to distribute your content stream to selected servers when performing multicast distribution. Connections are controlled by creating a list of allowed IP addresses in an access list registry key of Microsoft Windows Server.
The following access list registry keys control access to the Windows Media server. By default, all connections are allowed.
|Registry key |Description |
| |
|AllowDistribution |Server computers using IP addresses in this list are allowed to connect|
| |to the Windows Media server or to Windows Media Encoder. Client |
| |computers using IP addresses in this list are allowed to connect to |
| |Windows Media Encoder and to the Windows Media server to receive a |
| |distribution stream. If no addresses exist in the list, any computer |
| |can connect unless its address is in the DisallowDistribution list. |
|AllowUnicastClients |Client computers using the IP addresses in this list are allowed to |
| |connect to the Windows Media server to receive unicasts. If no |
| |addresses exist in the list, any client can connect unless the address |
| |of the client is in the DisallowUnicastClients list. |
|DisallowDistribution |Server computers using IP addresses in this list are not allowed to |
| |connect to the Windows Media server or to Windows Media Encoder. Client|
| |computers using IP addresses in this list are not allowed to connect to|
| |Windows Media Encoder or to the Windows Media server to receive a |
| |distribution stream. |
|DisallowUnicastClients |Client computers using the IP addresses in this list are not allowed to|
| |connect to the Windows Media server to receive unicasts. If an address |
| |is included in both the disallow and allow lists, the connection is not|
| |allowed. |
Windows Media server components authorization overview
A server can be configured to implement authorization as a service or via plug-in components. Delegating such tasks to dedicated plug-in components gives service providers the flexibility to implement different authorization schemes to meet different business needs. A plug-in component is responsible for carrying out the business policy and responding to event notifications. Windows Media server components supports any number of plug-in components running simultaneously. Each component can specify a unique set of events for notification and authorization.
To learn more about custom authorization components, see Windows Media Technologies Software Development Kit (SDK) on the Windows Media Technologies page at the Microsoft Web site.
Authorizing Windows Media clients
You can authorize Windows Media Player based on its Globally Unique Identification (GUID) number. This number is unique to each computer where Windows Media Player is installed.
To learn more about using client authorization, see Windows Media Technologies Software Development Kit (SDK) on the Windows Media Technologies page at the Microsoft Web site.
Creating distribution authentication
So that Windows Media servers can communicate securely with one another, the Server Properties page in Windows Media Administrator contains a Distribution Authentication tab on which you can enable server authentication proxy settings. If you attempt to distribute a unicast stream from this server to another Windows Media server and the connection is challenged by a proxy server, you can supply the following information to pass the proxy check:
( Proxy. The server that must be used to check this information.
( User ID. The account or name for which information is stored in the database.
( Password. The information you must enter to verify your User ID.
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