Section Four:	Digital Video Client/Servers
	State of the Art: First Quarter, 1999 [You can view/print this section with Acrobat Reader.]

Digital video client/server state of the art is discussed in this section in five key areas: open systems design, scalability, asset management, distance learning application support and purchasing & support. Each area is discussed and illustrated through the product offerings of ten vendors in the digital video client/server market that responded to a Request for Information issued by ViDe in October, 1998. These ten vendors are: Advanced Modular Solutions, Inc./Digital Bitcasting Corp. (joint proposal), CISCO Systems, Concurrent Computer Corporation, CyberStorage Systems, IBM, InfoValue Computing, Inc., Panasonic, Starlight Networks (subsidiary of PictureTel Corporation), SGI, and 3CX Streaming Media Solutions. Information about each vendor was developed from RFI responses and from updated information on corporate web pages. Suggestions are offered for evaluating vendors-those responding to the RFI and therefore discussed in this white paper, as well as vendors that have not responded or have a response in process, such as Progressive Networks (RealVideo), Hewlett-Packard, and Microsoft.

This section should be read with two important caveats: vendor summaries are based on explicit, selected capabilities obtained from RFI responses and vendor web sites. The summary is not intended to be exhaustive, so there will be omissions, for all vendors, for functionality and features. Since this white paper selectively examines digital video issues, some omissions are intentional on the part of the author. There may also be significant omissions due to author or vendor oversight. Finally, there will certainly be omissions, in this volatile field, due to the age of the document. All of the digital video vendors surveyed are actively developing their products. Features not available at time of writing may well be available before this document is revised.

The second important caveat is that vendors are evaluated on published capabilities that have not been tested for validity or performance by ViDe. No vendor should be selected without careful testing and evaluation by the purchasing institution. The intent of this document is to acquaint you with the state of the art in the first half of 1999, as a first step in the evaluation and selection process. The most critical steps in the selection process, however, are the careful identification of your unique user needs and the careful evaluation and testing of vendor products to meet those needs.

This section opens with a brief overview of the digital video product offerings of the 10 responding vendors:

Advanced Modular Solutions and Digital Bitcasting Corporation
Offers Progressive Networks' RealSystem G2 for video and audio and MPEG1/MPEG2 using Digital Bitcasting Corp.'s MPEG plug-in for RealSystem G2. Modular's Intel-based server platform, running either NT or LINUX, is provided for video storage and streaming, for a streamed video turnkey system. MPEG4 is in development. Products include an encoding station and non-linear editing station for video asset creation, the Media Archive Server/Digital Library for asset storage, the Stream Server for asset delivery, RealSystem G2 IP multicasting and live broadcasts of MPEG streams. Virage VideoLogger can be bundled for asset management and indexing. The G2 viewer with MPEG plug-in supports Windows 95/98/NT, MacOS (spring, 1999) and UNIX. In addition to client/server digital video streaming and multicast, Digital Bitcasting's 4-in-1 real-time hardware encoder is offered, providing the simultaneous creation of up to four MPEG1 files at varying data rates on a single PC.

CISCO Systems
CISCO provides IP/TV, which supports unicast and IP multicast as well as MBONE broadcasts. MPEG1 and a variety of codecs, including H.261, Indeo, Cinepak, QuickTime, Vxtreme and M-JPEG are supported. MPEG-2 will be supported in IP/TV v. 3.0, scheduled for release in early 1999. MPEG-4 support is also in development. Components of IP/TV include IP/TV Content Manager, which manages configuration and transmission for IP/TV servers and viewers, the IP/TV Server for capture, storage and transmission of video streams, and the IP/TV Viewer. IP/TV can be a software-only solution or bundled with the CISCO IP/TV 3410 Control Server, IP/TV 3420 Broadcast Server and the IP/TV 3430 Archive Server for a turnkey solution. Additional products are SlideCast, providing synchronized slides, such as PowerPoint, with broadcast video, Question Manager, which provides viewer-feedback through questions for immediate response or archive and respond later, and StreamWatch, which provides management information such as viewer demographics and stream quality. IP/TV supports Windows96/98/NT clients and is also compatible with UNIX VIC/VAT for MBONE and the Apple QuickTime streaming extension on Mac.

Concurrent Computer Corporation
Concurrent offers the MediaHawk Intranet Video System. The component pieces are the MediaHawk Video Server VOD Pack, which includes software modules and libraries to store and deliver video streams, the MediaHawk Player software and the MediaHawk System Administration software providing asset management, statistics and management of the video pumps streaming the video. MediaHawk supports MPEG-1 and MPEG-2. Concurrent is tracking the MPEG-4 standard and considering support for QuickTime. Unicast video on demand and video conferencing are supported by the MediaHawk Intranet Video System. Multicasting will be supported in mid-1999. The viewer client supports Windows 95/98/NT.

CyberStorage Systems
CyberStorage supports video on demand, IP multicast and live broadcast streams. Components of the CyberStorage video on demand client/server system are the NT-based CBV Server, which maintains video assets in the clip repository and provides asset management, including security and accounting, through its database module. The CBV Transmitter, an NT workstation, accepts and encodes analog live video feeds from cameras, VCRs, etc. for live broadcasting. The CBV Receiver is GUI-based client software for receiving multicast/broadcast transmissions. Video on demand unicast client software is provided by the Clip Viewer. MPEG1 and MPEG2 are supported, as well as any proprietary standards and future standards, such as MPEG4. Proprietary viewers may be needed or the Clip Viewer can be extended to support proprietary formats. The client viewer supports Windows 95/98/NT with MacOS in development.

IBM
IBM provides unicast and IP multicast streaming through its VideoCharger server, available on UNIX (AIX) and Windows NT. VideoCharger supports MPEG1, MPEG2, QuickTime (through its ActiveMovie implementation), AVI and Bamba (IBM proprietary format). MPEG4 support is in development. Multicast capability is separately priced with a one-time charge. NFS provides file system support on NT servers, while a multimedia file system manages AIX files. IBM Digital Library Version 2 provides integrated digital media management for assets in any format, and the 3466 Network Storage Manager provides video/multimedia archiving for storage and recall of archived media objects. Windows 95/98/NT clients are currently supported, with a MacOS client in development.

InfoValue
InfoValue offers unicast and multicast streaming video through its QuickVideo Suite. QuickVideo Suite supports all video formats as well as all off-the-shelf encoders, decoders and authoring tools. QuickVideo streaming is transparent for file format so expects to support MPEG-4 when available. Components of the suite are: QVOD (Quick Video on Demand) v. 4.0 providing unicast streaming/recording for Windows NT server environments; QVAR (Quick Video Archive), the asset management/video library application; QVMC (QuickVideo Multicast) supporting live broadcast and instant replay; (QVIW) QuickVideo IntraWeb, providing load balancing and management for enterprise-wide Intranet or multiple-site streaming; and QuickVideo Simulcast providing simultaneous real-time encoding of streams for monitoring and after action review. The QuickVideo player supports Windows 95/98/NT clients.

Panasonic
Panasonic Video Network Server is file format independent, supporting MPEG1, MPEG2, and other formats. QuickTime, AVI, Real have been tested and are supported. Unicast streaming is currently supported. IP multicast will be available with VNS 3.1, due to be released in early 1999. Sun's UNIX platform (Solaris) is required for the server. VNS can be bundled with LearningNet, a Java-based authoring application for synchronizing video, graphical aids and course outlines. Client playback operates on UNIX, Windows 95/98/NT and MacOS. A Java media player client is in development.

SGI
SGI offers WebFORCE MediaBase for media streaming, supporting MPEG1, MPEG2, RealVideo, RealAudio and H.263. Plans are in place to support MPEG4. MediaBase runs only on SGI Origin IRIX servers. The Origin 200 server is recommended for smaller installations. Installations wanting 20 streams or less also have the option of the O2 workstation as a server. Unicast, multicast and MBONE streaming is supported. MediaBase currently supports only the Optibase MPEG2 decoder card but comes with a DirectShow filter so that decoding cards supporting DirectShow are also supported. Asset management is provided through a bundled Informix database. Non-bundled Oracle is an option but must be purchased separately. StudioCentral can be bundled for enhanced asset management and indexing. Windows95/98/NT, MacOS, IRIX, Solaris and AIX clients are supported. The Solaris and AIX clients must be licensed separately from a third party partner.

Starlight (Subsidiary of PictureTel)
Starlight's video suite provides unicast and multicast video streaming through the following products: StarWorks, providing unicast streaming and recording; StarCast, providing real-time multicast service; and StarCenter, the file and streaming application manager, which manages RealVideo G2 and NetShow servers in addition to StarWorks and StarCast servers. StarWorks is available for Windows NT and Solaris server platforms. StarLive! provides streaming unicast and multicast with synchronized slides and real-time question and answer capability. StarCenter provides management for any file format supported by StarWorks, StarCast, RealVideo G2 and NetShow. StarWorks and StarCast support MPEG1. StarWorks supports MPEG2; StarCast will support MPEG2 in the next release. StarWorks will support MPEG4 if a player application is provided. StarCenter supports NetShow's MPEG4 implementation. StarWorks provides streaming independent of file format and supports QuickTime, AVI and M-JPEG, among others. ASF and Real can be supported with their native servers through StarCenter. StarCast currently supports only MPEG codecs. Starlight client software supports Windows 95/98/NT.

3CX Streaming Solutions (Subsidiary of IXMICRO)
3CX offers unicast and multicast streaming video through its ixJet Streaming Server and client for unicast, ixJet Live Server and client for real-time IP multicast, as well as the ixJet Streaming SDK and ixJet Live SDK to allow developers to customize and extend video on demand and multicast service. In addition, 3CX offers ixJet Network Video Explorer for on-demand learning and asset management, particularly in the K12 environment, ixJet Video Finder for asset management, indexing and discovery, and ixJet Network Video Presenter for presentation and content creation (timeline driven video, audio, PowerPoint slides, and text annotation). MPEG1, MPEG2, and QuickTime video formats are supported for unicast video on demand and MPEG1 for IP multicast. ixJet Live Server 2.0 will support MPEG2 multicast. MPEG4 support is in development. The viewer client runs on Windows 95/98/NT, MacOS and UNIX.