NewTek TriCaster 8000 - Manual (Page 327)

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ULL BY
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SERS
Simply put, the Windows Media Encoder® in TriCaster allows your (networked)
audience to connect directly to it, and it distributes the stream to them.
Connecting in this manner requires you to have a connection with sufficient
bandwidth to deliver a stream to each individual user. For this reason, the simple
Pull streaming method rarely works well for more than 1 or 2 viewers.
 Advantages:
o When TriCaster is not behind a firewall or does not have a public IP
address, this is a very simple way to let a few viewers watch your
program stream.
 Disadvantages:
o Requires either a public IP address or requires users to be on the
same network. Facilities such as hotels or convention centers will
usually not provide a public IP address. Even if they do, getting them
to open holes in their firewall is next to impossible.
o If TriCaster is behind a router, your router must be configured to
‘port forward’.
o Requires significant bandwidth -- for example, with TriCaster
connected to the Internet by a DSL or Cable Modem line, upload
bandwidth is often less than 400kbits/second. Allowing for network
overhead, at best a 320kbit steam can be accommodated. This
bandwidth would be fully consumed by two viewers watching
160kbit streams, or a single viewer pulling a 170-320kbit stream.
(Even a T1 digital line can only handle four simultaneous 300kbit
streams)
.
A variation on the Pull method involves using an external streaming provider. At
one time the only method for streaming using such a provider was to have the
server ‘pull’ it from the encoder. Under this system the server did not receive the
stream until the first user requested it. Then the server would connect to the