Hi all -

I have a client who does 2-3 live streaming events/month.

They have been through 4 hosts, none of whom can provide the type of service they need.

(mostly due to inability to configure the server firewall properly for live streaming)

Broadcasts can have as few as 10 simultaneous viewers, but most average about 1,000, streaming up at an average of 400kbps.

The streaming software (Wowza) recommends 64-bit CentOS, 4Gbs RAM and a 1Gb network interface.

Their server budget is less than $200/month, since they are still in startup mode.

They are also looking for excellent customer service - they are currently with MediaTemple, whose basic response to almost every support request is "look it up in the knowledge base and do it yourself".

Any recommendations?

While the specifications of the server and budget seem to be something that many providers can offer you, it seems that the configuration and support is where your friend is having the most trouble. It sounds like a detailed management plan /team will be required to get your friend satisfactory service. It may take a bit more setup costs to get their streaming sites setup, but once setup properly, maintaining them will be simple. Hopefully the next host they use they can stick with, since moving and setting it all up properly over and over again is a majority of the trouble.

Hello,

Your clients budget is OK you will have no problem finding a good dedicated server provider with high quality bandwidth for streaming.

Do you need a unmanaged server? or you do your own management of your client server? a good chunk of money can be saved if you go with a unmanaged server.

By inability to configure server firewall your refering to a hardware or software firewall? if hardware which brand?

Cheers

Thanks for the responses.

They prefer managed, since they don't have an in-house IT person full time, and want to focus on their core business, which is broadcast.

They have had 4 companies in 6 years, and each company seems able to handle the website hosting portion of the piece. They have had a consultant (me) come in and setup the streaming portion, but as soon as the server requires rebooting/maintenance, it seems as though all the firewall settings/server sonfig on the server goes haywire and the hosting company refuses to take responsibility for it, or to put them back the way they were configured.

So a couple of times a year, they incur a large cost and downtime to have everything reconfigured due to the server going down, needing emergency maintenance, etc.

These have not been small companies, either - its been LiquidWeb, MediaTemple...

"2-3 live streaming events/month" do you have details such as how many hours of event

As you say "simultaneous viewers 10 to 1,000 @ 400kbps

so peak time you need 429.688 Mbit(s)so you need to look at nice quality bandwidth

But I recommend to go with CDN it will be works for you very well :agree:

thanks forumtalk, but they have no desire to do a CDN - this is a highly customized solution, and needs to stay completely in house, with no third party vendors controlling content or delivery.

Events can be 45 minutes to 12 hours long, depends on the event/client.
I'm looking for a host who can handle the firewall issues, please see my original post.

Any HOSTING suggestions?

so what port speed are you looking for???

aha :) ok let see how this will work for you with own server

Total number of traffic from your peak time will be 2.16 TB
(12 hours x 1000 users x 400K Bit Rate)

so you need nearly 7TB of bandwidth for 3 live event per month so you can go with 10TB server :)

you need 1Gbps up-link and allow to boost 500Mbps on peak but remember you need quality bandwidth not cheap garbage :D

yes Wowza will be correct option :agree:

Forgot to ask :) what kind of issues do you have with firewall ? Is it hardware or software firewall ?

Softlayer sounds like a good option for you. My Dallas server can push over 850 mbps on a Gig-e port.

While the specifications of the server and budget seem to be something that many providers can offer you, it seems that the configuration and support is where your friend is having the most trouble. It sounds like a detailed management plan /team will be required to get your friend satisfactory service. It may take a bit more setup costs to get their streaming sites setup, but once setup properly, maintaining them will be simple. Hopefully the next host they use they can stick with, since moving and setting it all up properly over and over again is a majority of the trouble.

agree with that

I recommend sourcing a dedicated server from a company that is familiar with streaming services and setup, this will save you tons of hassle and frustration since you're looking for management.

The majority of 'managed' hosts around here would consider your needs highly custom and more than likely leave you hanging.

Broadcasts can have as few as 10 simultaneous viewers, but most average about 1,000, streaming up at an average of 400kbps.


Their server budget is less than $200/month, since they are still in startup mode.

You're asking for the world in return for peanuts friend! You're going to continue working through providers because at the end of the day... 'you really do get what you pay for'.

Cirtex Hosting would help you. They specialize in selling streaming servers.

I believe this was just published yesterday if you are considering a CDN...

"4 Out of 5 Viewers Leave If a Stream Buffers Once"

"However, Tubemogul was able to measure some significant differences between various popular CDNs. Only 3.84 percent of all Limelight streams sampled for the analysis rebuffered, it said. Streams served by Akamai were interrupted roughly twice as often (7.96 percent), while Bitgravity took the dubious honor of being the CDN with the most instances of rebuffering (12.48 percent)."

http://newteevee.com/2009/12/10/4-out-of-5-viewers-leave-if-a-stream-buffers-once/

I recommend sourcing a dedicated server from a company that is familiar with streaming services and setup, this will save you tons of hassle and frustration since you're looking for management.

The majority of 'managed' hosts around here would consider your needs highly custom and more than likely leave you hanging.

I agree! Based on experience

Your budget is a bit low for that kind of requirements. Especially if you include the wowza server licence in the price. Here is why :

- Streaming services require special setups and tweaking, most hosts will not provide them, especially wowza support. There are many ways to set it up so it can go through firewalls easily, but it requires knowlege of rtmp, flash players and wowza config files, not may hosts can provide this.
- the bandwith requirement you have is high, I would be weary to only have 10 TB of bandwith, any growth would be hard to absorb, but getting servers with more is expensive. There are ways around this, but it would require more then 1 server, so it's not cheap.

Broadcasts can have as few as 10 simultaneous viewers, but most average about 1,000, streaming up at an average of 400kbps.

<snip>

Their server budget is less than $200/month, since they are still in startup mode.


I think you're going to have a hard time finding the kind of support you need, with those bandwidth requirements, at that budget. 1000 users streaming at 400kbps is 400 megabits. Being able to hit 400mbps for $200 is going to be a challenge on its own, but doubly so if you expect any level of handholding on the part of the hosting provider.

Your budget does seem a bit low for the resource availability you are stipulating. The resource utilization of 10 people over 12 hours is significantly different than if that number is increased to 1000. As with any business you are going to have to bill on either the average based upon experience, the peak, or some percentage of the potential utilization.