Live streaming

[docko4]

Hi everybodyIs anybody out there that can tell me when it comes to live streaming which way to go.
Built a dedicated server
OR
Using existing streaming provider like,USTREAM or LIVESTREAM or some other providers.
Thank you very much

[sempei13]

We started with Ustream, but quickly went to a paid service (to get rid of the ads).

Paul

[riafekim]

Originally Posted by sempei13

We started with Ustream, but quickly went to a paid service (to get rid of the ads).

Paul

Which service did you guys use?

[sempei13]

I'll have to ask. We just changed and out IT guy heads that up now.

Paul

[timato]

I would say it really depends on how much time you're willing to dedicate to upkeep of a dedicated DIY streaming computer. Short of spending the thousands of dollars on a streaming appliance, like a Touchstream (or the one Microboards recently came out with), you're looking at building and maintaining yourself, or using a solution like UStream.

The other, VERY important component to realize is that while you can provide a stream out to the Internet, you will NOT be able to support more than 2-5 people off your connection (unless you have some huge bandwidth). You'll need a streaming host that can support lots of viewers because you never know how many people will latch onto your stream on a given day and the last thing you want to have happen is your server gets overloaded and the stream crashes.

Invest some time and research into content delivery networks. A church I know of here in the area is using a place called hiwinds (sp.?) and there are other places out there, too. If you buy lots of Gigabytes of transfer at a time, you can literally pay pennies for each GB you purchase. You won't necessarily get the glitz and glamor of Ustream, but you also won't be shelling out $300+ every month for it, either.

[gnilsen]

Check out ucstreaming.net. A friend of mine has started this:
ucstreaming.net

It is very reasonable.

[tedanderson]

I've started using Amazon S3.

From what I understand, they provide wholesale streaming video services for some of the larger commercialized providers. And all it really takes is a good capture card and roughly 1GB of uploading capability on a P4 desktop PC.

It's relatively cheap and easy to use and the costs are scalable.. so you are only paying based on the amount of people who connect and watch.