14 DAY TRIAL // On Wednesday, Microsoft has made available for download version 4.1 of its integrated HTTP-based media delivery platform called IIS Media Services.
The platform arrives as an update from the previously available IIS Media Services 4.0 and brings along features included in both of them, Microsoft notes.
Those who already have the IIS Media Services 4.0 installed will benefit from a set of enhancements over the previously available capabilities of the platform.
The main improvements in the new release include:
- Performance enhancements for the On-Demand Smooth Streaming and Live Smooth Streaming modules
- Support for managing Live Smooth Streaming publishing points programatically by using IIS Smooth Streaming Management REST Services
As stated above, the download will deliver features for both IIS Media Services 4.0 and IIS Media Services 4.1, offering a set of media-related extensions for Internet Information Services (IIS) 7 and higher.
The platform is capable of offering smooth streaming, which involves adaptive streaming of on-demand media files for all compatible clients, Microsoft Silverlight included.
Moreover, it also provides Live Smooth Streaming, with adaptive streaming of live media broadcasts available for all compatible clients and for mobile digital devices from Apple.
The features list of the platform also includes Bit Rate Throttling, which meters the delivery speed of media to players, and Web Playlists, which offers secure sequencing and server-side control of media content.
The platform also offers support for additional IIS extensions related to IIS Media Services, including Advanced Logging, for real-time client- and server-side logging, and Application Request Routing, which includes HTTP proxying and caching.
One can also download and install the Transform Manager extension, which offers support for media workflows, watch folders, and batch encoding/transmuxing of H.264-encoded content for Smooth Streaming and HTTP Live Streaming.
The IIS Media Services platform can be downloaded and installed on Windows Server 2008. In order to manage the IIS Media Services 4.1 modules using the IIS 7 user interface, one would also have to install the IIS Management Console (IIS Manager) for Internet Information Services 7.
Download IIS Media Services 4.1