Flash Media Server & Flash Video 09 Jan 2008 02:24 pm

Flash Media Server 3 details

FMS 3 IconLast September we previewed Flash Media Server 3, which will be shipping later this month. In December we made the official announcement but, based on questions I’ve been getting recently, I think a lot of people missed the details due to the holiday break. I thought I would summarize some of the more interesting details.

1. New product editions: “Interactive” and “Streaming” (full comparison of editions here)

Flash Media Interactive Server 3 - Full ver licensing starts at US$4,500

This is the full-blown FMS version that gives you all the bells and whistles. Notable new features:

  1. Major performance gains over earlier editions, which mean more streams and users per server.
  2. More secure content delivery via the new RTMPE protocol, offering high-performance 128-bit encryption. This also includes a verification feature for protecting SWF files from being reused, modified, or hosted in unauthorized locations.
  3. H.264 video and HE-AAC audio for streaming video up to 1080p HD resolution
  4. Improved Live video support via Flash Media Encoder 2
  5. Mobile delivery to Flash Lite 3
  6. New plug-in architecture that allows you to integrate with other back-end servers and services.

Features of Flash Media Interactive Server 3 that are NOT included with the lower-priced Flash Media Streaming Server edition:

  • Multi-way applications (think Adobe Acrobat Connect)
  • Unlimited scalability with Origin/Edge (replicate content from an origin server to an edge server)
  • Plug-in architecture for LDAP authentication
  • C++ Plug-in architecture
  • Multipoint publishing (for live stream posting to multiple origins to automatically reflect the stream)
  • Server redirection (used for authentication, requests can be redirected based on business logic)
  • AMF3 support (for data communications)
  • Server-side playlists
  • Video recording

Download the free Developer Edition (Currently FMS 2, will update to FMS 3 when it ships later this month)

Flash Media Streaming Server 3 - Full ver licensing starts at US$995

This is a more affordable step up from progressive download. It allows you to gain the benefits of streaming such as improved performance, especially over slower connections, and the ability to seek forward into video content that hasn’t been downloaded to the user yet. It also allows unlimited bandwidth and users. This is a huge benefit compared to the old licensing model.

19 Responses to “Flash Media Server 3 details”

  1. on 09 Jan 2008 at 3:21 pm 1.john said …

    Will apps built with FMS2 work immediately in FMS3?

  2. on 10 Jan 2008 at 10:20 am 2.Mike Downey said …

    Yes they will.

  3. on 10 Jan 2008 at 10:58 am 3.bcd said …

    Hi Mike,

    As I can see on Adobe website the free developer edition (10 connections limit) is ver. 2 not 3. When will version 3 will be available?

    thanks

  4. on 10 Jan 2008 at 11:40 am 4.David Tucker - Web Development Goodness » Blog Archive » User Input - Flash Media Server 3 said …

    [...] Downey recently gave a rundown of the new features in Flash Media Server 3. This licensing shift will be huge. Now, Flash Media Server will be affordable and scalable for [...]

  5. on 10 Jan 2008 at 2:04 pm 5.admin said …

    @bcd: FMS 3 will be available later this month. I’ve updated the post to note that. Thanks!

  6. on 11 Jan 2008 at 6:29 pm 6.Patrick Heinzelmann » Details zum Flash Media Server 3 said …

    [...] Downey hat auf seinem Blog, die Details zur kommenden Version des Flash Media Server gepostet. Neben den Technischen [...]

  7. on 12 Jan 2008 at 9:50 am 7.bcd said …

    Mike … one question please.
    With the new version 3 of the streaming applications can I buy FMIS 3.0 for origin servers and FMSS for EDGE servers?

    thanks

  8. on 13 Jan 2008 at 2:14 pm 8.admin said …

    @bcd: I don’t believe so. The FMSS edition isn’t aware of origin/edge so it probably wouldn’t work in the scenario you suggest. I’ll ask the product manager, Kevin Towes, to clarify in the comments.

    MD

  9. on 13 Jan 2008 at 6:41 pm 9.Kevin Towes said …

    BCD - FMSS and FMIS are not inter-operable from and Edge/Origin point of view. You can only connect an FMIS (configured as Edge) to another FMIS (configured as Origin). You can not configure FMSS as Edge or Origin.

    Hope this helps!
    kev.

  10. on 14 Jan 2008 at 5:17 am 10.bcd said …

    Good to know that but it doesn’t helps me :)
    5700EUR (in eastern europe) is very high comparing with 1200EUR when I need 3-4 new edges at every 6month

  11. on 15 Jan 2008 at 7:27 am 11.Nik G said …

    Mike,
    The new features for FMS3 look great. I’ve got a couple of questions for you…

    1. Will sharedObjects still work as they do in FMS2 with the streaming version of FMS3? i.e. can we still do chatrooms with the streaming version only.

    2. The current server side development language for FMS2 is pretty rudimentary. Has there been any improvement to the development environment for server side apps? i.e. is there eclipse/flexBuilder plugins to develop them in.

    Cheers,
    Nik

  12. on 19 Jan 2008 at 6:17 am 12.bcd said …

    the trial download link says
    “We’re sorry, the site area you’ve requested is unavailable due to scheduled maintenance. Please try again later.”
    … looks like this is the launch :D

  13. on 25 Jan 2008 at 5:19 am 13.Richard V said …

    Hi Mike,

    We have some chatrooms running FMS2, will they run on the light version of FMS 3 or do we need the full version ?

    Thanks,

    Richard

  14. on 15 Feb 2008 at 6:55 am 14.martin said …

    hi, any idea how to become out jpgStream minimum 1jpg/1sec out from RTMP stream ? thnx martin

  15. on 10 Mar 2008 at 3:59 pm 15.Chris said …

    Hi, any word on a plugin for flex builder 3 that faciliates version 3 of flash media server.

  16. on 01 Apr 2008 at 7:45 am 16.Kenny said …

    I have a question. I’m currently writing a paper about online video (so a big chunck about streaming aswell). Now i was watching a video on the Adobe site advertising FMS3 (http://www.adobe.com/products/flashmediaserver/ ==> it’s the full video not the first short clip you see).

    It said ‘connecting to streaming server’, there’s no load bar so i assume it really is streaming. But it’s just not possible to watch it, it has to re-buffer every 2-3 seconds. The whole point of streaming is that this doesn’t happen right? even if that means scaling down to a lesser quality. I have a broadband connection and this is probably one of the slowest and most irritating video’s i have encountered in a while. Not exactly the best way to advertise a product in my opinion. anybody any comments? If i’m totally missing the point of streaming, feel free to tell me.

  17. on 03 May 2008 at 6:28 pm 17.arama said …

    Hi, any word on a plugin for flex builder 3 that faciliates version 3 of flash media server. thanks

  18. on 05 Aug 2008 at 8:56 pm 18.Manish Gupta said …

    hi,

    i have a question as by using FMSS can i duplicate the built in vod / live services ? i know it can be dome in FMDS & FMIS but please tell me can it be done in FMSS 3 ?

  19. on 08 Oct 2008 at 11:11 am 19.savaş oyunu said …

    hi,this site is very good.because there are lot of flash war games

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