HTTP Streaming RealAudio and RealVideo Files
Many virtual server users want to offer RealAudio and RealVideo streams but do not want to
pay for a RealAudio/Video server that streams these files. Streaming files means that the RealAudio
and RealVideo files begin playing before the entire file is downloaded. RealAudio and RealVideo files
can be quite large and many people surfing the web would not wait to see the entire file download before
it started playing.
A RealAudio/Video server allows you to offer these streamed files.
However, you can also stream these files without the RealAudio/Video server. It isn't quite as nice
as using the server, but it will cost you no money. It is known as HTTP Streaming.
To stream RealAudio and RealVideo content using HTTP
from your BLUEHILL.com High Speed Virtual Server:
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First, you need to add the following two lines to your www/conf/mime.types file:
audio/x-pn-realaudio rm ra ram
audio/x-pn-realaudio-plugin rpm
If you choose to FTP this file and edit it on your local machine with a text editor (such as
notepad), be sure you FTP it in ASCII mode as it is a text file.
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Second, copy your encoded RealAudio and RealVideo files (files with the .rm and .ra extensions) to your Virtual
Server using FTP. Be sure to FTP these files in Binary mode.
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Third, create a metafile containing a RealAudio or RealVideo
URL. For example, the contents of your file should be in the following form:
http://hostname/path/filename
where hostname is the name of your World Wide Web server.
For example:
http://www.4domains.com/real/example.rm
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Fourth, save the above metafile as a text file with the .ram extension. For example:
example.ram.
Then FTP this file to your virtual server in ASCII mode (because it is a text file).
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Fifth, in your HTML document, reference the metafile in a hyperlink. For example:
<A HREF="example.ram">
<A HREF="http://www.4domains.com/real/example.ram">
You can use relative or complete paths. If you use complete paths, you must
include both the hostname and the complete path. For example:
<A HREF="http://www.4domains.com/real/example.ram">
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Last, When a user clicks on the link, the audio/video file(s) begin to download. The
RealPlayer begins playing after a few seconds; it does not need to wait for the
entire file to be downloaded.
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The audio clip .ram file in this example looks like this and points to the audio.ra file
in the same directory:
The video clip .ram file in this example looks like this and points to the video.rm file
in the same directory:
