Add/Edit Publishing Point Dialog Box

File name

Enter a file name for the Live Smooth Streaming publishing point. The publishing point file (a file that has an .isml file name extension) defines the publishing point settings.

Estimated duration

Enter the duration of the live stream, if you know it, so that the client Seek bar can be scaled to the length of the stream. Format the duration as days. hours: minutes: seconds. For example, if you know that the live stream duration is one hour, enter 01:00:00.

Note

Be aware of the following requirements when entering the duration value: The maximum value for seconds is 59 (00:00:59). 60 seconds must be entered as 1 minute (00:01:00). The maximum value for minutes is 59 (00:59:00). 60 minutes must be entered as 1 hour (01:00:00). The maximum value for hours is 23 (23:00:00). 24 hours must be entered as 1 day (1.00:00:00). The maximum value for days that can be entered is 10675199 (10675199.00:00:00). The total maximum value that can be entered is 10675199.02:48:05. The value must be a positive value.

Archive media

Select this option to store the live streams as a Smooth Streaming presentation that can be served to clients for later on-demand viewing by using the Smooth Streaming extension for IIS 7. By default, the live streams are archived to a Smooth Streaming presentation folder in %SystemDrive%\inetpub\media\archives\WebSiteName\PublishingPointFileName-isml.

If you decide to archive the live stream, select one of the following options that specify how the live stream will be archived:

• Archive as single presentation. Archives the live stream as a single Smooth Streaming presentation, which contains the following files: one contiguous .ismv file per bit rate, a presentation server manifest (.ism) file, and a presentation client manifest (.ismc) file.
  
  
• Archive as segmented presentation. Archives the live stream as multiple Smooth Streaming presentations. The duration of each presentation is specified by entering a value in the Segment length box. Choose this option if you want to split a long-running live stream into shorter segments for on-demand viewing. For example, you can archive a live stream that lasts 24 hours into 24 on-demand Smooth Streaming presentations, each lasting one hour.
  
  

Note
For more information about how to change the archive root directory for live streams, see Live Smooth Streaming Page.

Allow server connections

Select this option to enable the publishing point to return live streams when they are requested by publishing points on other Live Smooth Streaming servers in a distributed network.

Publishing points on other Live Smooth Streaming servers can be configured as Pull publishing points that get live streams from this publishing point. You can also configure this publishing point to push live streams to other publishing points by selecting Push in the Live source type drop-down list on the Basic Settings tab.

When you select Push, the Publishing Point URL list is displayed so that you can add the URLs of additional publishing points to which this publishing point will push live streams. The live streams can be pushed to multiple publishing points to balance the load across the servers in your Live Smooth Streaming network. To add the publishing point URLs that will receive the live streams to the list, click Add to open the Add Publishing Point URL dialog box and then enter the publishing point URLs and authentication credentials if required.

To remove a publishing point URL from the list, click the URL in the Publishing Point URL list, and then click Remove.

Number of lookahead fragments

Enter the number of fragments that will be buffered by the server. Clients use the information about the buffered fragments, which is stored in the current response, to optimize requests for the subsequent buffered fragments in a stream. This enables smoother playback of video.

The number of lookahead fragments that you choose introduces latency equal to the combined length of the buffered fragments into the live stream. For example, choosing 2 lookahead fragments introduces 4 seconds of latency into the stream if the fragment length is 2 seconds. Entering a value of 0 will minimize latency; however, it will not completely eliminate it due to factors such as network congestion or other factors outside the server's control.

Enable output to Apple mobile digital devices

Select this check box to enable the Live Smooth Streaming publishing point to convert live Smooth Streaming MPEG-4 (MP4) fragments to MPEG-2 Transport Stream (MPEG-2 TS) segments, and to create an Apple HTTP Live Streaming (.m3u8) playlist file that describes the MPEG-2 TS presentation for the mobile device.

Maximum bit rate

Enter the maximum bit rate, in kilobits per second (Kbps), to be created for the MPEG-2 TS segments. Some bit rates in a Live Smooth Streaming presentation are too high to be played by an Apple device after they are converted to MPEG-2 TS container format. Most Apple devices can play media encoded at bit rates up to 1,600 Kbps.

Apple AES-128 encryption

Live Smooth Streams for Apple devices can be encrypted so that they can only be viewed by devices that obtain a file that contains the content key to decrypt the streaming content. Live Smooth Streaming encrypts content by using the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) with a 128-bit key. It can also provide the content key file to clients, or you can specify that the content key be provided from an alternate location, such as a custom ASP.NET Web page.

To use Apple AES-128 encryption for live Smooth Streams, do the following:

1. Select the Enable check box.
   
   
2. In the Encryption key box, enter a key value that will be used to encrypt the stream. You can enter this value in the following ways:
   
   
   • Click the Generate button to enter a random value.
     
     
   • Click the Import button and then use the Open dialog box to locate and open a binary-encoded 16-octet key file (a file with a .key file name extension) that is provided by an external source.
     
     
   • Type a 128-bit hexadecimal number that represents a 16-octet key value.
     
     
3. If you want the Live Smooth Streaming server to store the content key file locally and provide it to Apple devices that request the encrypted stream, no further configuration is required and you can skip to step 4.
   
   
   
   To serve the key file from an alternate location, such as from a Web server that serves the key file by using dynamic ASP.NET Web pages, a Web server that authenticates users, or from a Content Delivery Network (CDN), do the following:
   
   
   1. Click Export to save the existing Encryption key value as a binary-encoded 16-octet key (.key) file on the computer.
      
      
   2. Copy the key file to the remote location and configure the remote computer to serve the key file when it is requested.
      
      
   3. Select the Use custom encryption key URL check box, and then in the text box enter the remote URL that clients must use to obtain the key file.
      
      
4. Click OK to save the settings and close the dialog box.