The Cisco IP/TV 3400 Series Servers consist of three servers with preinstalled IP/TV software: the 3410 Control Server, the 3420 Broadcast Server, and the 3430 Archive Server.
The Control Server, which comes with IP/TV Content Manager software installed, is used to set up and manage scheduled or on-demand programs, channels, recordings, and file transfers among Archive and Broadcast Servers. The Control Server also sends program listing information to client desktops, allowing viewers to see which programs are scheduled or available on-demand for that day, week, or month.
The Broadcast Server, which comes with the IP/TV Server software installed, is used primarily for live encoding and serving, as well as for serving a limited number of pre-recorded programs defined in the IP/TV Content Manager. The Broadcast Server includes the FutureTel Primeview Solo Composite MPEG and Winnov Videum AV VFW live-capture cards, and supports a wide range of codecs, including high-quality MPEG, medium-bandwidth H.261, and low-bandwidth (56 kbps) VXtreme video streams.
The Archive Server, which comes with the IP/TV Server software installed, is used primarily for serving on-demand programs, for pre-recorded programs as well as scheduled programs as defined in the IP/TV Content Manager. The Archive Server supports a wide range of codecs, including high-quality MPEG, medium-bandwidth H.261, and low-bandwidth VXtreme video streams.
Figure 1-1 shows a sample network configuration using the Cisco IP/TV 3400 Series Servers.
