An introduction to ShareStream

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An introduction to ShareStream

• Charles F. Leonhardt
• leonhardt_at_georgetown.edu
• CSG _at_ MIT

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What is ShareStream?

• ShareStream provides the means to capture,
  encode, store, deliver, and archive rich media
  materials. Media may be streamed, downloaded, or
  RSS-fed to students, faculty, staff, alumni, and
  the general public as appropriate.

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Why ShareStream? - Functional

• Increasing demand for media
• Eliminate restrictions on time and place
• Faculty want to deliver more media to students
• Students want better access to course materials
• Demand for new services
• Was download and streaming
• Now Podcasts
• Whats Next???

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Why ShareStream? - Technical

• Liability of existing Lauinger service (Cisco
  IPTV)
• Proliferation of Apple Streaming Servers
• No AuthN / AuthZ -- BIG Liability!
• Not reliable
• Under someones desk
• No enterprise-class services

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Why ShareStream LLC?

• No funding available yet significant capital
  requirements
• Vendor play - Everyone contributes

• Georgetown brings
• Knowledge of higher ed environment
• Functional requirements
• Quality assurance / testing
• Real-world use case

• ShareStream brings
• Significant capital investment
• Development resources
• Experience with streaming media and related
  technologies

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High Level Requirements

• Access
• Authentication and Authorization
• Content Management metadata, browsing
  searching, asset and collection relationships
• Encoding
• E-Commerce
• Interfaces and Interoperability
• Monitoring and statistics
• Support for a large number of users
• Significant Storage

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Intellectual Property Issues

• Fair Use
• TEACH Act Issues
• DMCA Issues

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Capture, Encoding, Storing

• Building Relationships with Faculty
• Scope of content
• Faculty planning
• A different kind of bandwidth problem
• C E process (high-level)

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Audio Capture, Encode Upload

• iTunes
• Create MP3s
• Import metadata
• ShareStream uploading tool
• Imports metadata from iTunes
• Transfers metadata to server
• Sorenson
• Squeeze (Hint) MP3s so theyre streamable
• Upload hinted MP3s to ShareStream

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VHS Capture, Encode Upload

• VHS
• Capture in iMovie
• Export as a full quality QuickTime file (dv)
• Use QuickTime Pro to compress (H264 MPG4)
• Hint the file in QT Pro
• Use Sharestream to upload the hinted file
• Enter metadata in ShareStream

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DVD Capture, Encode Upload

• All of these steps are the same as with VHS (i.e.
  digital to analog to digital)
• Capture via iMovie
• Use QuickTime Pro to compress (H264 MPG4)
• Hint the file in QT Pro
• Use ShareStream to upload the hinted file
• Enter metadata in ShareStream

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Technologies

• Red Hat Linux / Solaris
• AJAX-based front-end
• Java-based back-end
• Apache
• Tomcat
• MySQL / Oracle Databases
• Darwin streaming server

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Project Process

• Collaborative effort
• CNDLS, Lauinger, Dahlgren, UIS, ShareStream
• Vendor relations - ShareStream Team
• Project evolution
• Rapid application development vs.
• Formal development
• Project Tools
• Bug Tracking, Version Control, etc.
• Pilot Process

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Several Pilots

• Four Pilots to Date
• Spring 2006
• ShareStream v 1.0
• Fall 2006
• ShareStream v 1.5
• Spring 2007
• ShareStream v 2.0
• Fall 2007

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Moving to Production / GA

• New hardware (multiple servers and SAN) to
  support anticipated needs
• Locking down addition of new features /
  requirements
• Anticipate general availability for the campus in
  Fall 2008