Web Hosting Talk : Web Hosting Main Forums : Web Hosting : Looking for a streaming host with variable slots

[Banditelli]

First off about myself: I'm your typical knows-enough-to-get-by web design CMS flash type guy. Nothing special no real training but if I need to run a control panel I probably can.

What I need: I'm moving an AM station(oldies) to online streaming and need a host for it. The variable here is the only reason I'm moving the station is because a radio show on it which runs 1 hour every weekday needs to expand our audience and all that good stuff. We'll be expanding the show as far as we can hopefully within the next year and on certain days we'd have more listeners due to having higher profile guests on.

However, since we have the stream 3 other shows on the radio station have offered to pay for the costs(we had to get a cable line run to the station in the first place)- presumably they would have a lower listener rate.

The question is what's the best solution here? We don't want to pay for a 2000 slot shoutcast service right off the bat, but we also need one who can rapidly expand our slots as needed, or possibly have one which just charges based on use. When we get up to high volume would it be smarter for us to just lease an unmetered dedicated server (high assumption of 1000 listeners(which is months off) for 3 hours a day running at 128k bit-rate the bandwidth really starts to add up) or a dedicated server that just charges based on usage. The latter may even be cheaper than using the high-priced-slot-based shoutcast stream servers.

I figure someone out there has already done the research can might know an answer to the problem. The key here is flexibility- no point paying $90-300/month for a dedicated server the first month if we're only getting 200 listeners on our show and 50 for the other shows but if we somehow experience a surge in listeners we don't want to be stuck at a low cap.

I know that's a long post and I apologize for being long-winded but would appreciate any assistance from the group

Thanks!

Brett

[SiberForum]

Hello. What I recommend you is dedicated server. Browse through offers section here to get more information about existing offers

[ashley5]

welcome to WHT!

A business class dedicated server would be an apt solution for you!

[gavo2o]

Just one thing to consider, if you have a bitrate of 128kbit per slot you can only have a maximum of around 750 to 780 listeners per 100mbit of bandwidth.

[tulix]

You can start with a free streaming services to try everything out (I would recommend Windows streaming) and then you can try everything by yourself or to talk with with experts from hosting companies which are focusing on streaming. You can get shared account with multiple publishing points, VPS, dedicated - choices are a lot - you would never know untill you'll try.

[Collabora]

First decide on your technical requirements. I recommend setting up Windows Media encoder for the Pull method at a bitrate of 20kbits, 32 max (20 is fine for AM radio). You can get away with the Push method if you are doing only 1 hour per day, but you should think in the longer term with those other shows wanting to hop on.

Typically the encoder and the media server are separate servers, but you can start by putting both on one server to save some money at start up. If you have no clue on how to set this stuff up, or don't want to deal with setting up and managing servers, find a host that has expertise in live streaming media (emphasis on LIVE) using Wndows encoder and Pull.

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/win...erver/faq.aspx

--Mike

[tulix]

this post http://www.webhostingtalk.com/showpo...9&postcount=13 may be helpfull

[Banditelli]

Collabora good point- since it's talk radio 128k is probably a little insane.

Ya that post is helpful that you linked me too- does anyone have the data on % of users who can listen to Windows Media streams vs flash streams? I haven't seen many people putting up flash streams but something like 98.9% of web users have flash installed I believe- is the software still not refined(or too expensive from the looks of it)?

[tulix]

Flash is newer technology. It is more expensive too. I've seen shared plans for windows started at $35 per month. For Flash - $65. They do the same, just as you've said - no client required for Flash (it usually preinstalled already).

Regarding birate - you can go with Variable bit rate - I think minimum is like 20 Kb/s, but you can go up, depending on the quality of the connection. So the streaming server will setup bit rate depending on the connectivity for each client (you have just to choose like, 20, 32, 64, 128 Kb/s) if you have enough quality in the original stream.

[Collabora]

Aren't you just going to have audio? For the movie you will need a FlashComm Server for flash. Windows media is much easier to deploy and manage (which = cheaper) -- all you need is the windows server (for flash you will need the web server and the FlashComm server.

If you will be having video with your stream, check out developing with Silverlight from MS http://silverlight.net/ as the player instead of Flash. Any .NET developer can develop for Silverlight while for Flash you need a more expensive specialist. Silverlight is the future. Netflix uses it for their Instant Watching, NBC used it for the Olympics, etc.

--Mike

[tulix]

For silverlight you have to install the player, otherwise it is still uses windows media server - the difference is in the player and "html" or application coding. Once silverlight player will be autoinstallable like flash now - then I would go with silverlight.

[hosting guru]

I would assume a Dedi would do the Job for you,try browsing through WHT,they have a fair choice of Dedi Providers.
Cheers!

[RandyE]

I would recommend you try to look for a host that specializes in this field, especially if you are going to be doing ads to earn the money back.

[proradio]

I would suggest you look to pay for usage not slots. If you pick a host that can supply you unlimited slots and simply sets a limit on the amount of data (bandwidth) you use then this would seem the best way to do. You can then simply upgrade as you need and not have to pay for loads of slots you only use in peaks.

There are a few out there that can do this and provide. Try searching 'shoutcast hosting packages' and you will find a range.

I would say that running your own dedicated server is all well and good but do you really want the hassle and would you not prefer to have a company simply do this all for you so you have peace of mind?

Good luck with your station.