As users become more computer-savvy, they’ll want additional capabilities such
as streaming media, which can present a challenge to NetWare administrators.
When you think of providing streaming media capability, NetWare probably isn’t
the first thing that comes to mind. Normally, when network administrators want
to stream media, they’ll deploy Windows or Linux servers, which, for NetWare
admins, could require learning a new platform.If you’re running NetWare 5.1, you’re in luck. Novell included the NetWare MultiMedia Server as part of NetWare 5.1. With it, you can stream multimedia files directly from your NetWare server. I’ll show you how to install and administer the NetWare MultiMedia Server.
Author’s note
For the purposes of this article, I’ll be discussing NetWare MultiMedia Server running under NetWare 5.1. Novell no longer supports NetWare MultiMedia Server on NetWare 6, nor did NetWare MultiMedia Server ship with previous versions of NetWare.
Streaming media on my NetWare server?
Streaming media can offer many benefits to your users. It gives them a unique tool for video conferencing, marketing, or training. When users know they can create audio or video files for distribution to customers or other users, they’ll come up with all sorts of ways to use it.
NetWare was created before anyone gave streaming media any real thought. Novell didn’t include any facility for the distribution of this new media type when it first started shipping NetWare. During the Internet boom, Novell noticed the success that RealMedia was having marketing its RealServer platform. To get on the bandwagon, Novell created NetWare MultiMedia Server and included it in its newest operating system at the time, NetWare 5.1.
NetWare MultiMedia Server runs as an NLM on your NetWare 5.1 server. You gain the ability to stream audio and video files to your users while keeping the stability of your NetWare 5.1 server and maintaining your comfort level with administering a familiar platform.
In contrast to Microsoft’s use of proprietary file formats for streaming media with Windows Media Services, Novell has embraced more open standards. Using the NetWare MultiMedia Server, you can stream audio files using WAV and MP3 formats. For video files, NetWare MultiMedia Server supports RealMedia’s RM format, which means that users can access NetWare media streams from just about any client operating system, including Windows, Linux, Macintosh, or OS/2.
In further support of Internet standards, NetWare MultiMedia Server supports Real Time Streaming Protocol (RTSP) for streaming audio and video files. RTSP is a multimedia presentation control protocol specially designed for streaming files over TCP/IP. In addition, the NetWare MultiMedia Server supports Adaptive Quality of Service (Adaptive QoS), which adjusts the network bandwidth of streamed files depending on network traffic. If the network is heavily congested or a workstation is on a slower link than required by the streamed file, QoS regulates the multimedia data stream to keep the file’s playback from being affected too much.
Installing the NetWare MultiMedia Server
The NetWare MultiMedia Server installs as a part of the NetWare Enterprise Web Server. If you’ve installed the NetWare Enterprise Web Server, you may have already installed the NetWare MultiMedia Server without knowing it. You can check to see if the NetWare MultiMedia Server is already on your server by checking NWConfig.
Start NetWare’s NWConfig utility by typing load nwconfig and pressing [Enter]. Select Product Options from the Configuration Options screen and press [Enter]. When the Product Options menu appears, select View/Configure/Remove Installed Products and press [Enter].
You’ll see the Currently Installed Products screen. Check the list for a NetWare MultiMedia Server entry. If it’s on the list, the NetWare MultiMedia Server is already installed and you can start using it.
If NetWare MultiMedia Server is not on the list, you must install it. Don’t start installing it right away, though. First, you must make sure your server can support NetWare MultiMedia Server. This process includes making sure you’ve installed TCP/IP on your NetWare server. Because NetWare MultiMedia Server is a Web-based technology, it won’t work if you’re running only IPX on your network.
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