Apple's open source streaming server

In a previous post, we learned about two streaming media servers, one proprietary (Shoutcast) and one open source (Icecast). But there are other free and open source media servers, and one worth noting is Darwin Streaming Server (DSS), which is based on Apple’s Quicktime Streaming Server (QTSS).

DSS supports RTP and RTSP streaming protocols and will stream both audio and video. It runs as a background service on your Mac OS X Server or Linux server and includes a convenient web-based control panel. You can create playlists, start and stop media, and configure ports for media distribution.

“Both DSS and QTSS are built on a core server that provides state of the art quality of service features with Skip protection and Instant-On, and support for the latest digital media standards, MPEG-4 and 3GPP.

Darwin Streaming Server is available as a free download under the Apple Public Source License.”

Source: Mac OS forge
Photo: Hexley.com

How to install Shoutcast on a Linux server

Yesterday, we learned about two radio streaming servers available for Linux: Shoutcast and Icecast. Today, you will learn how to install and setup a Shoutcast server. In this example, you will create a special user to run Shoutcast, rather than having it run as root, which is a security risk.

1. Create a new Linux user:

# adduser -c "Shoutcast User" shoutcast
# passwd shoutcast
(enter a password for the new user)

2. Download the latest version of Shoutcast from shoutcast.com. Make sure you download the Linux server version.

3. Login as the shoutcast user
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Radio broadcasting from a web server

Setting up a radio broadcast requires two main components: 1. server-side streaming software and 2. some type of streaming software on your local computer that sends streaming music through the server.

There are many popular audio streaming solutions, but two of the most common free solutions are Shoutcast and Icecast. The difference between the two is that Shoutcast is proprietary while Icecast is free and open source. If you have your own dedicated server, you can usually install icecast from your Linux distribution’s repository.

If, however, you plan to get a shared hosting account, you should do some investigating to find a web hosting provider that offers pre-existing shoutcast or icecast setups. Many of them have different packages that vary depending on how many simultaneous listeners you will have. Each listener has a unique connection to the server, so bandwidth consideration is a factor. Once you have Shoutcast or Icecast ready to go, you will need to set it up and test it. We will learn about that later this week.

Photo: Flickr