Just posted, the software for Windows Media Services 2008 is now online. Of note is the fact that all first wave languages have been released for this RC: English, Spanish, Japanese, French and German.
There are two key new features. (There’s more but here’s the primary features)
- Cache/Proxy Plug-in
The built-in WMS Cache/Proxy plug-in can be used to configure a Windows Media server either as a cache/proxy server or as a reverse proxy server so that it can provide caching and proxy support to other Windows Media servers. By caching and proxying your digital media content, you can reduce operating costs and provide a better viewing experience for users by conserving network bandwidth, decreasing network-imposed latency, and offsetting the load on the origin server. For more information about this very useful feature, see the online help page on Cache Proxy Plug-in - Windows Server 2008 Server Core Support
Support for the Server Core installation option. A server running the Server Core installation option of the Windows Server 2008 operating system now supports the Streaming Media Services role, which includes Windows Media Services. A Server Core installation provides a minimal environment for running a Windows Media server, which reduces the maintenance and management requirements and the attack surface. For more information about the Server Core installation option, see online Server Core Step-by-Step Guide.
There’s a few primary benefits.
Microsoft Windows Media Services is an industrial-strength platform for streaming live or on-demand audio and video content over the Internet or an intranet. Use Windows Media Services to configure and manage one or more Windows Media servers that deliver your content to clients.
Your clients can be:
- Computers or devices that play the content using a player, such as Windows Media Player.
- Computers running Windows Media Services that are proxying, caching, or redistributing your content.
- Custom applications that have been developed using the Windows Media Software Development Kit (SDK).
- Silverlight-based web applications also support streaming from Windows Media Services 2008. Please refer to Silverlight documentation to get up-to-date information on the level of support included.
The new built-in Cache Proxy plug-in enables the edge servers in the network to be Cache Proxy servers. This allows these edge servers to cache the content for on-demand streaming and split the stream for the live streaming events. This reduces network traffic and results in significant bandwidth savings and improved network and origin server performance. For more information, see the online help page on Cache Proxy Plug-in
The Server Core installation support allows you to have Windows Media Services deployed on servers that have minimal servicing needs and reduced attack surface. This also reduces the overall server footprint and thus allows to run Windows Media Services on a server with lower hardware configuratoin. This feature combined with the Cache/Proxy plug-in serves as a great edge server solution.
Windows Media Services 2008 can be used with IIS7 to enable web sites to have enhanced streaming media capabilities.
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IIS DOWNLOAD CENTER:
http://www.iis.net/downloads/default.aspx?tabid=34&g=6&i=1481
WINDOWS MEDIA INFORMATION PAGE:
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/forpros/serve/prodinfo2008.aspx
KNOWLEDGEBASE ARTICLE: "How to Install Windows Media Services for Windows Server 2008"
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/934518
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