HTTP Video on Demand with VLM
Posted: 01 Sep 2013 11:08
Setup Architecture:
Set Top Box <------> Intermediate Server <------> NAS
Protocols Used:
STB : HTTP (Does not understand HTTPS or RTP, etc. Can Only Play MPEG2-TS
Intermedia Server (Ubuntu 12.04 LTS Server) : HTTP with STB & HTTPS with NAS. Has VLC / VLM Running
NAS (RHEL + Apache) : HTTPS. Storage Only. Contains files in MP4 and other formats.
What I am trying to do:
Pick up an MP4 over HTTPS from the NAS and mux it to MPEG2-TS and stream it to the set top box when a user requests it. This is a video on demand implementation and not a Broadcast / Multicast streaming implementation. We will be setting up a stream only when a specific user requests it.
Questions:
What I have already tried
I have tried streaming a video file to a user by opening a port and getting a client to connect to it. The reason why I cannot use this is because I need the user to be able to FF/REW through the video which is a critical requirement.
I want to be able to resume a video from where a user last left off. I have not found a way using which I can stream a video from a particular point (Say 15:44 mark). So everytime the user logs back into our system, he will have to start watching the video from the beginning without the facility of FF.
Set Top Box <------> Intermediate Server <------> NAS
Protocols Used:
STB : HTTP (Does not understand HTTPS or RTP, etc. Can Only Play MPEG2-TS
Intermedia Server (Ubuntu 12.04 LTS Server) : HTTP with STB & HTTPS with NAS. Has VLC / VLM Running
NAS (RHEL + Apache) : HTTPS. Storage Only. Contains files in MP4 and other formats.
What I am trying to do:
Pick up an MP4 over HTTPS from the NAS and mux it to MPEG2-TS and stream it to the set top box when a user requests it. This is a video on demand implementation and not a Broadcast / Multicast streaming implementation. We will be setting up a stream only when a specific user requests it.
Questions:
- 1) Can VLM be used for HTTP VoD? I have not found a single article that gives me a definitive answer.
2) Can I use trick modes FF/REW using VLM? One of the most important reasons for using VoD is to use trick modes. Which is the reason I am not streaming it.
3) Can VLM be used as a production grade video on demand server like Wowza? I am looking at supporting 1000 concurrent streams. The reason I cannot use Wowza is because the box cannot understand RTP, RTSP, HLS, HDS or HSS and Wowza does not support plain HTTP streaming. Only pure and native HTTP streaming or what we call progressive downloads
What I have already tried
I have tried streaming a video file to a user by opening a port and getting a client to connect to it. The reason why I cannot use this is because I need the user to be able to FF/REW through the video which is a critical requirement.
I want to be able to resume a video from where a user last left off. I have not found a way using which I can stream a video from a particular point (Say 15:44 mark). So everytime the user logs back into our system, he will have to start watching the video from the beginning without the facility of FF.