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Streaming Media: Why It Works

by: Lala C. Ballatan

Isn�t it more interesting to pay attention on a kind of medium that is complete with valuable data and presented on a creative way with audio-video quality to match? That�s the kind of media we sometimes look for before becoming compelled enough on certain products or service offers. Content delivery over the Internet is really never guaranteed.

Given this, it is easy to understand why streaming media has worked enough to become part of our daily lives. Streaming media is the term for enabling the real-time distribution of digital media (audio, video and data) over a network that could be the internet or a corporate Intranet. Here, digital media are received as a continuous real-time stream.

Streaming audio and video demand that delivery is reliable and fast. It is advantageous since it allows the multimedia to be downloaded and viewed simultaneously without leaving behind physical files. It is easy to understand why streaming media works for almost everyone since everyone can benefit from it. From new parents wanting to share their child�s first birthday party with long distance relatives to corporations holding live shareholder meetings online � in fact, anything that can be captured, can be streamed.

How is streaming media distributed, then? A server transmits the streaming media data, presenting it in real-time to a client application running n a PC or other electronic device such as a cellular phone or Personal Digital Assistant. As soon as enough data has been transmitted and stored in the client�s buffer, the streaming media allows the devices to begin playback of the multimedia.

By using a live streaming media server, almost any multimedia content can be streamed, including audio and video assets obtained from nearly any source. Streaming does not choose any type of multimedia � whether it is stored on old 8mm film reels or already stored as an MPEG file on your computer.

However, though your streaming server is live, you can never be sure your audience can see and hear your content as you intended for them to view and hear it. It should be understood that performance of streaming media is more crucial than any other type of Internet traffic. Loss of performance will instantly mean a loss of audience. And once your audience can�t connect or lose service quality, then your efforts and investment may be wasted.

To make sure your streaming media work, along with other investments online like content creation, high performance web hosting and content delivery networks, make sure that your investment delivers results. By this, it means that you have to make sure that your audience can see and hear what you are broadcasting.

Work on streaming your chosen multimedia content for necessary purpose it may serve you. Choose a streaming server that�s reliable and has a wide range of services like Tier-1 OC-192 Content Delivery Network (CDN); professional and knowledgeable customer service staff; support for a wide array of Media Formats; network designed from the ground up for: scalability, performance, and redundancy. -30-

About the author:
Lala C. Ballatan is a 26 year-old Communication Arts graduate, with a major in Journalism. Right after graduating last 1999, she worked for one year as a clerk then became a Research, Publication and Documentation Program Director at a non-government organization, which focuses on the rights, interests and welfare of workers for about four years.

Book reading has always been her greatest passion -- mysteries, horrors, psycho-thrillers, historical documentaries and classics. She got hooked into it way back when she was but a shy kid.

Her writing prowess began as early as she was 10 years old in girlish diaries. With writing, she felt freedom � to express her viewpoints and assert it, to bring out all concerns -- imagined and observed, to bear witness.

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