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Streaming involves sending video from a server to a client over a network in packets. At the receiving end, the packets are reassembled to play the video as it arrives. The video file is never actually downloaded since the packets are discarded after they have been decoded and viewed.
Because the timing of packet arrival is so important, streaming servers use the Realtime Transport Protocol (RTP) instead of the HTTP protocol normally used for web content. RTP uses UDP instead of IP for transport, with no attempt to retransmit lost packets. This also allows the content to be multicast, potentially reducing server load considerably.
Some parties expand the definition of "streaming" to include media file download and refer to the above definition as "live streaming".
Revised Monday, 10-Mar-2003 15:10:30 CST - © 2000 - 2003 LEC &