Getting the video to its destination is just part of the equation. You also must consider the type of management available. Can the products be configured and monitored remotely from a terminal session, SNMP or, better yet, a browser window? Do you need those capabilities?
You may want access to log files or reports. A W3C (World Wide Web Consortium)-compatible file is easy to parse by many log analyzers, and the log files are handy for analyzing which videos are being viewed the most and by whom. Log files are also invaluable for determining peak usage times and when upgrades might be necessary.
Beware of vendors pushing one-box solutions--they can become so overwhelmed trying to pat their heads and rub their stomachs that the video quality will suffer. Conversely, the more pieces of equipment you have, the more likely it is that one of them will fail. As a rule of thumb, it takes a minimum of two machines to stream live video: one computer or video appliance to encode the video, and another to do the actual streaming. If you need to archive the video for rebroadcast, you should assign this task to a third server or device.
Securing Your Rights
If you need to protect the video you broadcast, look to manufacturers building devices that actively support some form of digital rights management. DRM can protect your video from being copied, archived or played on unauthorized systems. With many enterprise customers creating their own in-house videos and audios for training and sales, it's important to maintain control over how and by whom these resources are used. For more details about how DRM affects your enterprise, see Security Pipeline's "DRM Protects Data At the Source."
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