WebFORCE MediaBase 2.0: Frequently Asked Questions

A. The WebFORCE MediaBase 2.0 defines a new class of intelligent, integrated Web media servers that deliver interactive, real-time, high quality MPEG-1, MPEG-2, and H.263/G.723 video and audio streams to Web clients via IP and ATM networks.

Q2. What features and functions does WebFORCE MediaBase 2.0 deliver?

A. The main feature categories are as follows:

Content Management
Webcasting (Multicasting)
Web Integration
Storage Management
Operations Management
Management Tools
Software Client Plug-In.
Network Administration
Variable Bit Rate Support 28.8 Kbps - 8.0 Mbps
Stream Scalability
Live Capture and Broadcast
High Availability and RAID Support
Multiple Network Protocol Support

Refer to the datasheet for further details.

Q3. What are the target applications for the WebFORCE MediaBase 2.0?

A. Key initial target applications include: computer-based training, entertainment on demand, information on demand, multimedia presentations, corporate and educational broadcasts, video archiving, browsing and retrieval, online help and repair manuals, product tutorials and brochures, networked multimedia kiosks and retail video catalogs. We also believe that numerous additional applications will quickly emerge as media serving becomes more common place both in the enterprise intranet as well as in government, education, medical and manufacturing environments, and in consumer residential applications based on new broadband infrastructure initiatives.

Q4. Why are media servers important products?

A. You are familiar with the expression "a picture is worth one thousand words". Imagine if you had video! Video will substantially enhance both new and existing information, education, entertainment and commerce applications in terms of efficiently conveying high impact messages as well as enhancing retention and comprehension of material.

Q5. Why is content management such a key feature?

A. Content management is important for several reasons: instead of merely putting the video in a file system and struggling to keep track of it, content management provides functions to efficiently load and unload video assets as well as generating a content catalog which can then be used both by administrators as well as end users to browse, search and query the video repository. Content management also provides several other benefits including transactions and distributed data management which are key building blocks for constructing scalable systems based on media server clusters. Content management also supports video content churn - as video becomes more popular it will become extremely important to regularly refresh the available content instead of simply building large, static archives.

Q6. Does the WebFORCE MediaBase 2.0 provide video stream multicasting?

A. Yes, multicast streams are provided along with extensive scheduling functionality. The user can view the multicast program schedule using a Web-based interface and then tune to programs of interest which will be played back using the client plug-in. Administrative tools are also provided to handle scheduled play list construction and management.

Q7. Can I use the WebFORCE MediaBase 2.0 with an existing Web server running on a non-Silicon Graphics hardware platform?

A. Yes, the WebFORCE MediaBase 2.0 can serve Web-based video streams in conjunction with a Web server running on any other vendors hardware platform. However, note that the Silicon Graphics WebFORCE servers offer industry leading Web serving performance and scalability!

Q8. How is the WebFORCE MediaBase 2.0 different from the numerous video servers on the market?

A. The WebFORCE MediaBase 2.0 has a number of key differentiators including: economical scalability, Web integration, integrated content management, multicast streaming, storage management and extensible architecture. No other video server offers as much value. Refer to the datasheet for more details.

Q9. How many video streams can a WebFORCE MediaBase 2.0 handle?

A. The WebFORCE MediaBase 2.0 utilizes the Origin ^TM server SMP architecture and the XFS file system features to provide scalable streaming to hundreds of on-demand viewers and thousands of multicast users.

Q10. What are the WebFORCE MediaBase 2.0 configurations?

WebFORCE MediaBase 2.0 can be purchased in 10, 20, 50, 100, 250, 500 concurrent user configurations for the O2^TM and the Challenge ® and Origin server server lines from Silicon Graphics.

Q11. What is the availability of the WebFORCE MediaBase 2.0?

Release 2.0 for the Origin platform is expected in June of 1997. Meanwhile, we are working with a number of customers to provide an early access program. Contact your sales representative for details.

Q12. Who are Silicon Graphics partners in the media serving space?

A. We have numerous partners and are working diligently to expand the list. The partner categories include: networking, authoring, encoding/compression, systems integration, database and software solution developers. Refer to the press release and partners page for specific partner references.

Q13. How does WebFORCE MediaBase 2.0 integrate with various database products?

A. WebFORCE MediaBase 2.0 has integrated content management for video and audio. The customer need not buy or use a separate database to create video content catalogs or to load, unload, browse or query the video content. Building media serving applications which utilize data from external databases is a Web server/database integration problem - utilize existing tools from the leading database and tool companies or use cgi/bin scripts.

Q14. What client configuration is required to support video playback?

A. The client functionality is provided by a Web browser plug-in or helper application. Silicon Graphics will provide the player on platforms including Windows 95, Windows NT, Mac OS, and SGI IRIX. Sun Solaris and IBM AIX players are available from our partners. The SGI player can playback MPEG-1, MPEG-2, and H.263/G.723 streams and utilize either hardware or software support for MPEG-1 decoding and hardware support for MPEG-2 decoding. The player provides full motion video playback and full interactive VCR controls (e.g. start/stop/fast forward/ rewind/pause). The player will support hardware MPEG decoder boards from Sigma Designs, Optivision, Optibase, and Wired.

Q15. What does the term extensible architecture mean?

A. WebFORCE MediaBase 2.0 is built around a technology base that includes object and relational database technology, pluggable delivery service engines, CORBA distributed objects, the open WebFORCE MediaBase 2.0 API and a client player API. This technology provides a solid foundation for rapid feature evolution by Silicon Graphics developers as well as by third party developers building customized media serving solutions.

Q16. What criteria should be used to evaluate media server offerings from different vendors.

A. Make sure that your vendor has good answers to the following questions:

How many video streams and how much disc storage capacity is provided?
What is the range of encoded bit rates that the video server supports?
What is the system upgrade path as more streams and storage are required?
What is the scalability of the media server in terms of providing economical solutions as well as interactive performance with rapidly changing content and growing numbers of users?
How is content management handled to allow administrators to install, unload, browse and query video content as well as providing extensive video browse and query capabilities to end users?
What management, configuration, and monitoring tools are available?
Is broadcast as well as on-demand video playback supported in the same product?
Is live encoding and capture supported? Can the live streams be simultaneously archived for archiving and later playback?

Q17. How do you author video applications which utilize streams from the media server?

A. There are two modes of authoring for WebFORCE Mediabase solutions: (1) Web page authoring: - use Cosmo Create and other Web authoring tools, (2) full screen authoring mode - use tools provided by our authoring partners to build video enabled solutions for full screen presentations, kiosks, special effects, etc.

Q18. What is the advantage of streaming video over the current download mechanisms?

A. The key to providing immersive, informative, high impact applications is interactivity - don't spend time waiting for file downloads! Downloading video clips also utilizes large amounts of local storage which is not required by streaming video solutions.

Q19. Where does the video content come from?

A. The WebFORCE MediaBase 2.0 has a set of installation tools that can input content from multiple sources including existing digital video currently residing in a file system or from off-air sources or analog or digital video tapes using an MPEG encoder attached to the MediaBase 2.0 via an IP network. H.263 assets can be created by transcoding them from MPEG-1 sources with the included utility.

Q20. What network configurations are supported by the WebFORCE MediaBase 2.0?

A. We suggest that the client machine be provided with switched Ethernet connectivity. The server can utilize several high speed interfaces including 10Base-T, 100Base-T, FDDI or ATM OC3. Direct ATM connection to the client on a LAN Emulation is also supported.

Q21. What network protocols does the WebFORCE MediaBase 2.0 use?

A. WebFORCE MediaBase 2.0 video streams are embedded in standard IP or ATM protocols. IP multicasting is used to deliver broadcast streams.

Q22. How does the WebFORCE MediaBase 2.0 relate to the Silicon Graphics video servers used for interactive television?

A. The WebFORCE MediaBase 2.0 reuses some of the core technology and leverages the experience gained from large scale, high quality video streaming for interactive television. However, WebFORCE MediaBase 2.0 has been optimized for a substantially different target market with different applications, different price points and different clients (desktop PCs and workstations instead of set-top boxes).

Q23. How can infrastructure providers such as telephone and cable companies and other network service providers use the WebFORCE MediaBase 2.0?

A. Many infrastructure providers are moving rapidly to exploit opportunities to deliver high bandwidth, Web -based services to residential consumers. The WebFORCE MediaBase 2.0 provides the ideal platform for these providers to deliver high performance Web serving integrated with streaming video via cable modems and ADSL technology.

Q24. Are mainstream enterprise and consumer markets ready for streaming video?

A. The key to market development is delivering useful, compelling, informative and entertaining video-enabled applications. The important message is get started with video applications today! Get your content digitized and cataloged online in the MediaBase 2.0 and begin to build and deliver applications now!