Overview

The RealSystem™ 5.0 family of products provides a complete solution for streaming media and allows your Internet or intranet users to easily access multimedia content in real time.

Superb audio and video quality, high transmission reliability, great broadcast scaleability, and flexible modes of delivery have made RealNetworks software the market leader for professional live and on-demand streaming media on the Internet or your intranet. RealSystem provides a proven, reliable platform for multimedia streaming and allows you to grow as your needs and use expand.


Using This Guide

This RealServer™ Administration Guide explains how to install, configure, and operate the RealServer, part of every RealSystem 5.0 product. Step-by-step installation, configuration, and customization procedures for the server and each feature allow you to tailor your system and integrate it seamlessly with your network. Content and template samples are included when you install RealServer.

This guide is intended for the technical system administrator who is familiar with the Internet or intranet and who understands how to work with .html and .rm files. IS managers, server administrators, Web masters and others providing Web pages for the Internet and intranet may also find this document useful.


Conventions

This manual uses the following conventions:

 Command Monospace font represents commands to be typed or information displayed on the screen
 <file name> Angle brackets show where to insert information, such as the name and location of a file. The angle brackets are not required when typing the command.
 [ ] Square brackets show optional command arguments. The brackets are not required when typing the command.
 Bold  Bold font is used for names of files, directories, commands, and options.


RealServer 5.0 New Features

RealServer 5.0 continues to provide award-winning RealAudio® and RealVideo® technology and offers many exciting new features:


Conceptual Overview

The following diagram shows how RealServer components work together in relation to the RealSystem family of products.

Conceptual Overview

RealServer employs a client/server architecture to provide features such as live broadcasting, interactive stream control (fast-forward and seek options), efficient use of network bandwidth, and scaleability that can support large numbers of concurrent users.

Sophisticated compression, buffering, and transmission techniques allow RealServers to stream audio and video animation to players, which continuously decompress and play back the stream in real time. Users can watch or listen to entire programs or navigate on-demand clips to experience what they want when they want it.

The following figure shows how RealServer components work together to deliver a typical RealAudio or RealVideo clip to a user (client).

  1. When a user visits your Web page and clicks a link to a RealAudio or RealVideo file, the Web browser requests the metafile from your Web server.
  2. Your Web server sends the metafile to the user's Web browser and based on the metafile extension, sets the MIME type.
  3. Based on the MIME type, the Web browser starts the user's RealPlayer as a helper application and passes it the metafile.
  4. The RealPlayer reads the first URL from the metafile and requests that clip from the RealServer at your Web site.
  5. Your RealServer streams the clip to the user's RealPlayer, which plays the clip in real-time.
    No messages pass between your RealServer and your Web server.

© 1997 RealNetworks, Inc.