Hopefully someone will have some suggestions on this.

I am having some trouble getting my Win 2000 Server to properly stream video content.

Here is what I want to do:

1. Stream video content from a Windows 2000 Server
2. Distribute a single stream to be tapped into from multiple locations so everyone is watching the same video in the same timeframe no matter when they started
3. Minimize buffering or automatically cache several seconds/minutes
4. Minimize the need for third party dll's or active x controls
5. Minimize bandwidth usage

Research tells me that I want a multicast broadcast and that theoretically 2000 Server running Windows Media Administration should be able to do this. Sure I can build an asx file but my experience with caching tells me that it isn’t a reliable way to reduce buffering. Additionally I don’t think it is possible to use an asx as the source for the Media Administration to stream.

I have most recently tried using the Unreal Streaming software at umediaserver.net which is actually pretty good. The drawbacks that I am trying to avoid is that it requires a third party active x install and it doesn’t appear to allow for a single stream to multiple clients.

I want the stream to send the same signal out to all clients so that if I start watching the video at 4:00 pm and my wife starts watching in another room at 5:00 pm we see the same thing. Most software or configurations I have found so far end up starting the video from the beginning for each connection.

Any guidance or links would be appreciated.

Thank you
Ron Mills
xTV
http://tv.windowsx.com