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This guide details the support for Streaming Media Servers in CONTENTdm Versions 3.4 and higher. The CONTENTdm Server can store and manage your streamed media files and link to your streaming server for access to the streamed media. If you use a previous version of CONTENTdm, you will need to upgrade to Version 3.4 or higher to support your streamed media files. This guide assumes that you have installed and are familiar with your streaming media server.

Storing Streamed Media

There are two methods for storing your streaming media files and interfacing to your streaming server from CONTENTdm:

• Mapping a streamed file type
• Storing URLs of streamed files

Mapping a streamed file type

The CONTENTdm Server can map the file name of your stored stream file to its URL on your streaming media server. This is accomplished by following the steps below.

1. Store the stream files in CONTENTdm. Store them as you would any other item; that is, import them using the CONTENTdm Acquisition Station, enter the metadata, upload them to the Server, and add them to a CONTENTdm collection.

2. The stream files are then located under the image subdirectory for the designated collection. Locate this directory on your CONTENTdm Server. Create a link/alias to this directory from your streaming media server so it can access the stream files.

3. Define a mapping from the file name of the stream files to the URL on your streaming media server. To do this, locate the streaming media configuration file on your CONTENTdm Server. The streaming media configuration file is located in the CONTENTdm Server conf directory (by default, this is located in C:\Program Files\Content\Server\conf in Windows or /usr/local/Content/conf in UNIX). The file name of the configuration file is stream.txt.

4. Enter a record in the file corresponding to the type of media supported. The format of the record is the file extension of the stream file, followed by one or more spaces, followed by the URL of the streams. Within the URL, designate the place where the filename of the stream file should be inserted using the following two-character string: %f.

Figure 1, below, shows a sample configuration file mapping a Real server file type to its associated URL:

Figure 1. Streaming media configuration file

After the file type has been mapped in the configuration file, the stream will then be accessed from the streaming server using the streamed URL in the CONTENTdm HTML interfaces. In the example above, a stored stream file named 1234.ram would be accessed from the streaming server via the URL http://my.real.server/1234.ram.

Storing URLs of streamed files

Another method of interfacing to your streaming media server is to store the URLs of the streams in CONTENTdm. In the CONTENTdm Acquisition Station, choose Import URL to import the URL of your streams and store them in CONTENTdm. This method is recommended if the stream URLs have different parameters (other than the stream file name) for different streams or if you access your streaming server remotely.

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