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Server hardware requires fast performance and large storage in order to deliver content to a large number of users. Windows NT* Server-based servers built around Pentium^® II processors provide a high-performance server solution at a reasonable cost. The server should contain as much memory as possible to handle the large number of transactions that are possible. A 100-Mbit high-speed network ensures that the network can handle large amounts of traffic, and 100-Mbit Ethernet cards provide the much-needed increased bandwidth and the performance necessary for servers to run effectively. Servers also require a large amount of storage, and Fast SCSI II hard drives provide the speed necessary to handle a large number of storage accesses. Pentium^® II Processor based servers provide the needed performance to deliver the scaleable solutions required by channels.

Pentium^® II processor

64 megabytes of memory

Windows NT* 4.0

100-Mbit network card

Fast/Wide SCSI II hard drive

Each channel must connect to the Internet using a router and a T1 or T3 line out to the Internet. Routers essentially route packets coming from the Internet to their appropriate destinations. Routers need to be able to handle large amounts of traffic in order to support a channel.

Router – A router is required to handle the incoming packets and deliver them to their destination.

T1 Line – Provides 1.54 Mbps of bandwidth available to the user. This typically is the connection out to the Internet.

A Web server is required to deliver HTML pages to the user. In addition, the server needs to support a variety of scripting languages, such as CGI, Java* and ISAPI. The server must also be capable of delivering security to control access to documents, support SSL and password authentication, and be able to handle security certificates. Servers must also be able to log access and page hits, interface with online databases, and provide general configuration and management. The Web server is the heart of a channel and provides real-time access to thousands and, in some cases, millions of users. To handle the large number of users, Web servers need to be scaleable. The server selected for our three channel applications was Microsoft’s Internet Information Server.

Another compelling component for real-time interaction is chat. Chat is typically used as a forum for people to discuss specific items or agendas. Chat servers have prompted the growth of many online communities that have come together to share thoughts and feelings. The types of chat servers include voice, text and 3D worlds.

A simple text chat solution consists of a chat server and a chat client. The server is typically written using TCP; however, it is possible to implement a UDP solution. The server is responsible for listening for requests for connections, accepting connections and forwarding messages to the intended recipients.

The chat client is a simple interface that requests a connection from the chat server. Once a connection has been granted, all messages are forwarded and received from it.

From a content provider’s viewpoint, the most important aspect of a channel is its ability to generate revenue. Channels can create revenue by providing online catalogs of products that can be purchased electronically or product advertising. After visiting a channel and viewing the latest movie or music album, users need to be able to purchase merchandise online.

A variety of electronic commerce servers can be used to create online stores. The online store needs to provide catalogs for viewing and searching for various products. A comprehensive electronic commerce solution provides the order tracking, shipping, inventory, pricing and interfaces required by online electronic commerce.

In addition, the commerce server needs to be able to process the user’s credit card and address information. Solutions such as Microsoft Wallet* or CyberCash* can be used to generate cash transactions on the Internet.

Advertising is also a key component to the success of a channel. To help promote the sale of merchandise, advertising banners can be included. Ad banners can be delivered to the users based on their preferences. Targeted advertising has the benefit of delivering only advertising about products that the user is interested in buying. This form of targeted advertising is ideal for companies wanting to make product sales.

Both advertising and electronic commerce are dependent on databases that contain most of the product information and/or user preferences.

Streaming audio and/or video across the Internet requires a real-time audio or video encoder. A video and sound capture card is required as well as a server for encoding the stream in real time. The output of the encoder is typically fed into a channel manager. Its role it to allow multiple users to connect to the server and retrieve the broadcast stream using unicast or multicast. Multicast has the benefit of requiring a single stream, compared to one stream for each connected user.

To deliver one stream to many users, a network must be capable of handling multicast IP. This requires that routers be programmed to support multicast packets. Packets being delivered across the Internet will travel through several routers from server to client. Each router on the network must be programmed to support multicast packets. Most routers on the Internet are not programmed to support multicast. To deliver a multicast stream, a multicast-capable network must be available to handle multicast packets.

Packets moving across the Internet also require some type of quality of service. Since the bandwidth on the network is shared, video or audio streams are not guaranteed the amount of bandwidth they require. RSVP can be used to reserve bandwidth on the Internet. This would work if all routers supported RSVP and were configured to do just that. This is not the case. However, for private networks, the routers can be programmed and quality of service could be guaranteed. For today’s Internet, channel developers will require the use of unicast for delivery of live video or audio across the Internet.

Most broadcasts across the Internet are generated as point-to-point unicast transmissions from server to client. Most streaming audio and video server solutions support unicasts. Depending on the channel, the number of unicast streams supported will require at least a T1 or T3 line to handle the multiple streams. For example, a T1 line at 1.5 Mbits/sec could handle about 50, 28.8-Kbps streams on the Internet.

A variety of streaming audio codecs provide audio across the Internet. Streaming audio can be used in channels to provide live concerts, artist interviews, presentations, live radio broadcasts and music clips. Creating a streaming audio codec requires an audio server and an audio source. A Windows NT* server can be used to configure and manage the audio to be streamed on the Internet. Real Audio* and Xing* provide scaleable audio servers for delivering live audio streams across a network. Several other streaming solutions are also available. The reference section at the end of this white paper lists some possible solutions.

Databases are needed to support the electronic commerce and advertising required by channels. Databases are used in electronic commerce to keep track of orders, customer purchases, catalogs of merchandise, pricing information, inventory and so on. Advertising databases can be used to deliver advertising banners that are targeted to user preferences.

Pushed content such as movies and music can also be delivered based on user preferences. If the user is interested in action movies, advertising or movies presented in the channel should be tailored to action movies. Databases can also be set up to deliver content based on user demographics. Viewers can be presented with local events, such as movies opening up and concerts occurring locally, based on ZIP codes.

Databases are also used to track user selections and preferences. The collection of information about a user’s choices while in a channel benefits the user as well as the channel provider. The channel provider gets a database tracking the buying and selection habits of subscribers, and the user benefits from getting content tailored to his or her interests. Users participate in channels according to interest, and they can be connected to other users who share those interests.

Channels require a variety of network servers to provide real-time content and updates to users. The integration of different technologies into a rich multimedia application is a big challenge for developers. Appendices F and G describes two potential channels: a music application and a theater application. The appendix describes the servers and their application in channels.

Many servers on the market are available for use as Web servers. In developing our digital channel applications, Microsoft’s Internet Information Server* (IIS) provided useful features that could be used in channel applications. Active Server Pages (ASPs) were used to deliver compelling content.

A Web server is required to deliver HTML pages over the Internet. In addition, the server should support a variety of scripting languages, such as CGI, Java* and ISAPI. The server must also be capable of delivering security to control access to documents, support SSL, provide password authentication and be able to handle certificates. Servers must also be able to log access and page hits, interface with databases and provide general configuration and management. The Web server is the heart of a channel that provides real-time access to thousands, and in some cases, millions of users. It must be scaleable to handle large volumes of traffic. The server chosen for creating our three applications was Microsoft’s IIS.

Microsoft’s IIS* provides a full-featured solution for delivering HTML pages on the Web. Also included is support for ASPs, which allow for the server-side execution and delivery of dynamic content. ASPs were used to develop the Microsoft Merchant Server for our electronic commerce solution. ASP scripts were written to resolve asset resolution and provide an e-commerce solution incorporating richer media data types. Rather than using standard graphics, the catalog could mix video assets with online commerce. Doing so allowed channels to deliver videos on CD-ROM that could be previewed and then immediately purchased on the Internet.

An electronic commerce solution consists of providing an online store for consumers to connect over the Internet. An electronic commerce Web site must provide the ability for the shopper to look up product information. In addition, the Web site must be able to process incoming orders, store the latest price information and add any applicable tax. The e-commerce solution must also be able to track customer orders and product inventory, and process credit card and shipping address information. One alternative that provides the features necessary to create an e-commerce solution is Microsoft Merchant*.

The Microsoft Merchant Server architecture is built on a Windows NT* Server. The solution consists of a IIS Web server for processing Web pages and ASPs. ASPs allows server-side scripts to be written that provide general, customizable and dynamic HTML pages that can be delivered to the client. The Merchant Server* makes use of an SQL database server to store products, customer and order information, as well as process credit card and address using Microsoft Wallet* on the client side.

Setting up the Microsoft Merchant Server requires the integration of three major components: Internet Information Server, SQL Server, and the store setup itself. Internet Information Server needs to be set up to handle processing of HTML Web pages and support for ASPs. The SQL Server database software needs to be set up prior to loading up the Microsoft Merchant* Server. Several Merchant Server databases need to be set up using SQL Server Enterprise Manager*. The procedures entail setting up the data devices and required database, and the documentation included with the Microsoft Merchant* Server takes users through setup step by step.

After setting up the SQL Server database, the next step is to run through the Merchant Server setup. This involves setting up the interface to the SQL Server database and then creating the directory structure for the actual store. Internet Information Server must also be properly set up to handle secure access to the online store.

After setup is complete, all the ASPs, which make up the store, are loaded. These files and directories can be modified to provide your own look and feel. Graphic screen elements need to be changed and product information replaced with information about your own products. Customization of ASPs can be done to meet your application needs.

Merchant Server includes several tools to help create and manage online stores. A store foundation wizard and store builder wizard can be used to generate a store. Or you can use one of the four templates provided by Merchant Server. We used the bookstore template to help create a software superstore.

An online, Web-based interface is used to access the product database and input new products. When product descriptions, prices and other information are entered, you have the template for an online store.

The stores included with the Microsoft Merchant server provide two-dimensional graphics for the products. ASPs provide the flexibility to add short video descriptions of the product. Intel Indeo Video 5.0 is an excellent choice for providing either high-quality video clips that could be distributed using a CD-ROM or storing video clips online. Video clips could also be pushed to play off the users’ hard drives.

Microsoft Wallet consists of two ActiveX controls for providing credit card information from the client. The store wizard creates four active server pages for processing of this information from the client. These files can easily be customized to process the customer information for an incoming order.

The SQL server is the database component for the Microsoft Merchant server. The databases provided are for tracking orders, inventory, store catalogs, pricing information and so on. The Microsoft Merchant Server uses ASPs to query the SQL databases for information to be displayed back to the user.

Databases are useful for storing archived information. In the music application, Microsoft Access was used for the music database, which contained information about albums, artists and specific tracks.

Channels benefit greatly from the use of electronic commerce to provide revenue streams from selling online products. The distribution and purchase of software, videos and music will become more prevalent as bandwidth increases, but until then, users can still purchase items online. Channel developers can choose from a variety of electronic commerce solutions in creating an electronic store, and CyberCash* and/or Microsoft Wallet* can then be used to facilitate electronic transactions across the Internet.

*Other brands and names are the property of their respective owners.

© 1997 Intel Corporation. All rights reserved.

* Legal Information © 1998 Intel Corporation