Wowza, Mirror Image Partner on Multiprotocol Streaming

Written by Ryan Lawler

Monday, May 11. 2009 at 10:40 AM EDT 2 comments

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Content delivery network (CDN) Mirror Image Internet Inc. will be the first company to test a new streaming server from Wowza Media Systems that can deliver video in Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq: MSFT)'s Silverlight, Adobe Systems Inc. (Nasdaq: ADBE)'s Flash, and a number of other formats -- all from a single box.

Mirror Image uses the current version of Wowza's streaming server, the Wowza Media Server Pro, for delivery of Flash video for about 50 of its media and entertainment customers. The "Pro" version of Wowza's media server has long had the ability to ingest from multiple file formats and deliver in Flash, which makes it easier for publishers to use existing workflows and encoders.

But Mirror Image will be the first CDN to deploy and test the new Wowza Media Server Pro Advanced, which will allow publishers to ingest from nearly any file format while supporting video output to Flash, Silverlight, iPhone, Quicktime, and set-top box protocols.

"With Wowza Media Server Pro Advanced, we can automatically transcode and deliver video in almost any format, making video delivery a one-size-fits-all proposition," says Marty Hayward, director of marketing at Mirror Image.

Taken a step further, the new "Advanced" version of the Wowza streaming server, which was first announced at NAB, could allow CDNs like Mirror Image to deploy a simplified streaming infrastructure. Rather than having to install separate media servers for Flash, Silverlight, and other formats -- as well as encoders for each file format -- they can deploy the new Wowza streaming server to support multiple protocols.

That could be a boon for CDNs and other service providers that want to deploy Wowza's streaming servers. Alex Dobrushin, Wowza's director of marketing, says the company already sells to about a third of the 54 recognized CDNs that operate worldwide, including Mirror Image, SimpleCDN, and BitGravity.

Testing of the "Advanced" version of Wowza's streaming server will begin in a few weeks on Mirror Image's network. Dobrushin expects general release of the server to begin in the second half of this year.