PeerCast
Encyclopedia
PeerCast is an open source
streaming media
multicast tool. PeerCast uses peer-to-peer
technology to minimize the necessary upload bandwidth for the original multicaster.
The website of PeerCast appears to be abandoned since December 2007. No further updates exist since that date and the source code repository is not available anymore.
, MP3
, WMA
) and/or video (Ogg Theora
, Nullsoft Streaming Video
, or WMV
), or any other stream of data, over the internet. Peercast uses a distributed bandwidth technique to lighten the load of the broadcaster's upstream bandwidth where each listener/viewer will relay the stream they download to one or more additional listeners. Users may choose how many relays to allow, and if a listener sets their relays to '0', then they will essentially not contribute back to the stream at all.
The benefits of using PeerCast is that it allows any multicast
ers, particularly small or independent ones, to distribute their streams without need for much bandwidth, saving them costs. It also allows, theoretically, an infinite number of listeners as long as there are enough relays (see below).
Upload bandwidth isn't always reliable, as typical relays are just ordinary listeners. Also, the project is currently in beta and is sometimes unstable.
Peercast does not feature BitTorrent-like swarming; if a point node fails, all others in the tree are mute and dead.
Corporate environments and their security policies might not appreciate the fact that it uses peer-to-peer technology and essentially turns listeners by default into servers.
Since it turns all of the network in a server, distributing content for which you might not have a license could cause legal concerns, depending on the jurisdiction and local legislation the node falls under.
Open source
The term open source describes practices in production and development that promote access to the end product's source materials. Some consider open source a philosophy, others consider it a pragmatic methodology...
streaming media
Streaming media
Streaming media is multimedia that is constantly received by and presented to an end-user while being delivered by a streaming provider.The term "presented" is used in this article in a general sense that includes audio or video playback. The name refers to the delivery method of the medium rather...
multicast tool. PeerCast uses peer-to-peer
Peer-to-peer
Peer-to-peer computing or networking is a distributed application architecture that partitions tasks or workloads among peers. Peers are equally privileged, equipotent participants in the application...
technology to minimize the necessary upload bandwidth for the original multicaster.
The website of PeerCast appears to be abandoned since December 2007. No further updates exist since that date and the source code repository is not available anymore.
Methods
Peercast can be used to implement multicast streaming of audio (Ogg VorbisVorbis
Vorbis is a free software / open source project headed by the Xiph.Org Foundation . The project produces an audio format specification and software implementation for lossy audio compression...
, MP3
MP3
MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 Audio Layer III, more commonly referred to as MP3, is a patented digital audio encoding format using a form of lossy data compression...
, WMA
Windows Media Audio
Windows Media Audio is an audio data compression technology developed by Microsoft. The name can be used to refer to its audio file format or its audio codecs. It is a proprietary technology that forms part of the Windows Media framework. WMA consists of four distinct codecs...
) and/or video (Ogg Theora
Theora
Theora is a free lossy video compression format. It is developed by the Xiph.Org Foundation and distributed without licensing fees alongside their other free and open media projects, including the Vorbis audio format and the Ogg container....
, Nullsoft Streaming Video
Nullsoft Streaming Video
Nullsoft Streaming Video is a media container designed for streaming video content over the internet. NSV was developed by Nullsoft, the makers of Winamp....
, or WMV
Windows Media Video
'Windows Media Video is a video compression format for several proprietary codecs developed by Microsoft. The original video format, known as WMV, was originally designed for Internet streaming applications, as a competitor to RealVideo. The other formats, such as WMV Screen and WMV Image, cater...
), or any other stream of data, over the internet. Peercast uses a distributed bandwidth technique to lighten the load of the broadcaster's upstream bandwidth where each listener/viewer will relay the stream they download to one or more additional listeners. Users may choose how many relays to allow, and if a listener sets their relays to '0', then they will essentially not contribute back to the stream at all.
The benefits of using PeerCast is that it allows any multicast
Multicast
In computer networking, multicast is the delivery of a message or information to a group of destination computers simultaneously in a single transmission from the source creating copies automatically in other network elements, such as routers, only when the topology of the network requires...
ers, particularly small or independent ones, to distribute their streams without need for much bandwidth, saving them costs. It also allows, theoretically, an infinite number of listeners as long as there are enough relays (see below).
Criticism
When a relay is lost, all peers underneath it (might) lose their connection to the stream and must reconnect to another relay, also when reconnecting to another relay, a peer (might) have to accept the point in the stream the new relay is at, potentially causing a skip or repeat in the stream.Upload bandwidth isn't always reliable, as typical relays are just ordinary listeners. Also, the project is currently in beta and is sometimes unstable.
Peercast does not feature BitTorrent-like swarming; if a point node fails, all others in the tree are mute and dead.
Corporate environments and their security policies might not appreciate the fact that it uses peer-to-peer technology and essentially turns listeners by default into servers.
Since it turns all of the network in a server, distributing content for which you might not have a license could cause legal concerns, depending on the jurisdiction and local legislation the node falls under.
External links
- Official Website
- Directory of active broadcasts
- Gnome Peercast is a GUI frontend for Linux users (the official version is only command line)
- There is also a JapanJapanJapan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese based fork of the project which can be found here