Scalable Continuous Media Streaming Systems

Continuous media streaming systems will shape the future of information infrastructure. The challenge is to design systems and networks capable of supporting millions of concurrent users. Key to this is the integration of fault-tolerant mechanisms to prevent individual component failures from disrupting systems operations. These are just some of the hurdles that need to be overcome before large-scale continuous media services such as video-on-demand can be deployed with maximum efficiency. The author places the subject in context, drawing together findings from the past decade of research whilst examining the technology’s present status and its future potential. The appro…