Readme for Windows Media Services 9 Series February 2007
This documentation provides late-breaking or other information that supplements the documentation for Microsoft Windows Media Services 9 Series.
 Note Windows Media Services 9 Series was updated in Microsoft Windows Server 2003 with Service Pack 1 (SP1).
ContentsSystem requirements
Known issues
Legal notice
System requirementsThe default installation of Windows Media Services installs the following software on your server hard disk:Windows Media Services service. This service allows you to stream digital media content to clients over an intranet or the Internet. Windows Media Services snap-in. This snap-in enables you to manage and configure Windows Media Services using Microsoft Management Console (MMC).
You may choose to also install the following optional components on your server to provide support for additional features:Windows Media Services Administrator for the Web. This component provides support for remote, browser-based administration of your Windows Media server. Selecting this component installs a set of Active Server Pages (ASP) for use with Internet Information Services (IIS). When installed, the Windows Media Services Administration site appears in the IIS Web sites folder. Windows Media Services Administrator for the Web may also be installed separately from the Windows Media Services service. Multicast and advertisement logging agent. This component enables you to record statistics from players that connect to content through a Web server. Selecting this component installs an extension to the Internet Information Services Web server that collects the logging information and writes it to a log file in the location you specify.
Use the tables in the following sections to determine the minimum requirements for your system based on the components you choose to install:
Note Although Windows Media Services 9 Series does not contain any new features in Microsoft Windows Server 2003 with Service Pack 2 (SP2), we recommend that you upgrade to Windows Server 2003 (SP2) for the latest updates and security enhancements to the current Windows Server 2003 operating system. Windows Server 2003 (SP2) tightens security of your Windows Media server and improves its performance and reliability.
Windows Media Services service and Windows Media Services snap-inThe default Windows Media Services installation includes both the Windows Media Services service and the Windows Media Services snap-in. The Windows Media Services snap-in provides you with full control of the server and enables you to manage groups of Windows Media servers using Microsoft Management Console.
The following table shows the system requirements for the computer running the Windows Media Services service and the Windows Media Services snap-in.
| Component | Requirement | Recommendation |
|---|
Operating system
| Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Standard Edition
| Windows Server 2003, Enterprise Edition (SP2)
Windows Server 2003, Datacenter Edition (SP2)
x64-based versions of these operating systems
| Processor
| 233 megahertz (MHz)
| 550 MHz or higher
| Memory
| 256 megabytes (MB) of RAM
| 1 gigabyte (GB) of RAM or higher
| Network interface card
| Ethernet card and Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP)
| Same
| Free hard disk space
| 21 MB (6 MB for system files and 15 MB for installation); adequate disk space for content storage
| 21 MB (6 MB for system files and 15 MB for installation); 500 MB for content storage
|
The Windows Media Services snap-in can be added to clients that meet the following requirements and have the proper administrative rights.
| Component | Requirement |
|---|
Operating system
| Windows Server 2003, Standard Edition; Windows Server 2003, Enterprise Edition; Windows Server 2003, Datacenter Edition; or any x64-based version of Windows Server 2003
| Software
| Microsoft Management Console
|
Windows Media Services Administrator for the WebTo support administering Windows Media Services from remote computers, you have the option of installing Windows Media Services Administrator for the Web on a network server. Windows Media Services Administrator for the Web is a browser-based interface that uses Active Server Pages (ASP) hosted by Internet Information Services (IIS). This set of Active Server Pages is located under the Windows Media Administration site in IIS.
The following table shows the system requirements for the server hosting Windows Media Administrator for the Web.
| Component | Requirement | Recommendation |
|---|
Operating system
| Windows Server 2003, Standard Edition
| Windows Server 2003, Enterprise Edition (SP2)
Windows Server 2003, Datacenter Edition (SP2)
x64-based versions of these operating systems
| Processor
| 233 megahertz (MHz)
| 550 MHz or higher
| Memory
| 256 megabytes (MB) of RAM
| 1 gigabyte (GB) of RAM or higher
| Network interface card
| Ethernet card and Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP)
| Same
| Free hard disk space
| 3.4 MB
| 3.4 MB
| Software
| Microsoft Internet Information Services (IIS) to support the browser-based Windows Media Services Administrator for the Web
| Same
| File system
| NTFS
| Same
|
After Windows Media Services Administrator for the Web is installed on your server, it can be accessed by clients that meet the following requirements and have the proper administrative rights.
| Component | Requirement |
|---|
Operating system
| Windows 98, Windows Millennium Edition, Windows NT 4.0, Windows 2000, Windows XP, or Windows Server 2003
| Software
| Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.5 or later, or Netscape Communicator 6.0 or later
|
Note To function, the Windows Media Administration site must be able to install cookies on the remote client computer, so be sure that the client browser is using a security option that supports cookies.
To provide security for this Web site, review the information in Securing the Windows Media Administration site in Windows Media Services Help.
ASP documents are not compatible with the file allocation table (FAT32) file structure. If you are having difficulty viewing Windows Media Services Administrator for the Web, ensure that your file system does not use the FAT32 architecture.
Multicast and advertisement logging agentTo log statistics from players that connect to a Web server to receive multicast broadcast or advertising content, you can install the multicast and advertisement logging agent on a network server. The multicast and advertisement logging agent is an IIS application extension that uses the Wmsiislog.dll to collect information from players. This Wmsiislog.dll is installed in the %systemdrive%\WMPub\Wmiislog directory.
The following table shows the system requirements for the computer hosting the multicast and advertisement logging agent.
| Component | Requirement | Recommendation |
|---|
Operating system
| Windows Server 2003, Standard Edition
| Windows Server 2003, Enterprise Edition (SP2)
Windows Server 2003, Datacenter Edition (SP2)
x64-based versions of these operating systems
| Processor
| 233 megahertz (MHz)
| 550 MHz or higher
| Memory
| 256 megabytes (MB) of RAM
| 1 gigabyte (GB) of RAM or higher
| Network interface card
| Ethernet card and Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP)
| Same
| Software
| Microsoft Internet Information Services (IIS)
| Same
|
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Known issuesConfiguring Windows FirewallApplies to the following Windows Server 2003 releases: Service Pack 1 (SP1)
If you install Windows Server 2003 (SP1) with Windows Media Services, the necessary exception for Windows Media Services is not created automatically in Windows Firewall. A server administrator must open Windows Firewall ports manually by doing the following:Click Start, point to Control Panel, and then click Windows Firewall. On the Exceptions tab, click Add Program. In the Add a Program dialog box, click Browse. In the Browse dialog box, navigate to %systemroot%\system32\windows media\server. Click WMServer.exe, and then click Open.
Note If you use Microsoft Windows Server 2003 (SP2), the necessary exception for Windows Media Services is created automatically in Windows Firewall; therefore, this procedure is not required.
To perform this procedure, you must be logged on as a member of the Administrators group on the local computer, or you must have been delegated the appropriate authority. If the computer is joined to a domain, members of the Domain Admins group might be able to perform this procedure.
On Windows Server 2003, Windows Firewall is turned off by default and the Windows Firewall/Internet Connection Sharing service is disabled by default. You might have to start the Windows Firewall/Internet Connection Sharing service if you try to perform this procedure and you have never started Windows Firewall.
Windows Firewall is not included in the original release of the Windows Server 2003 operating systems.
For more information, see Understanding Windows Firewall Exceptions.
Monitoring performance on x64-based versions of Windows Server 2003Applies to the following Windows Server 2003 releases: Service Pack 1 (SP1), Service Pack 2 (SP2)
If Windows Media Services is installed on computers running x64-based versions of Windows Server 2003, 32-bit version performance monitoring software (such as the Windows Media Services Management Pack for MOM) may not be able to access the Windows Media Services performance counters. To make sure that all performance counters are available to the performance monitoring software, you can install a hotfix on the Windows Media server that is being monitored. For more information, see article 896421, "Installing 32-bit Windows Media Services 9 Series performance counters on x64-based versions of Windows Server 2003," in the Microsoft Knowledge Base.
Developing Windows Media Services applications for x64-based versions of Windows Server 2003Applies to the following Windows Server 2003 releases: Service Pack 1 (SP1)
Development and deployment of software applications that interoperate with Windows Media Services running on x64-based versions of Windows Server 2003 is not supported until an updated version of the managed programming model for Windows, Microsoft .NET Framework, is available for this operating system. The redistributable components of Windows Media Services that are required when writing managed code are not installed on x64-based computers.
Administering Windows Media Services in Windows Server 2003 remotely from a Windows Server 2003 computerApplies to the following Windows Server 2003 releases: Service Pack 1 (SP1), Service Pack 2 (SP2)
Several new features in the Windows Media Services component in Windows Server 2003 (SP1) or later may appear to be unavailable if you use a computer running Windows Server 2003 to remotely administer Windows Media Services. This occurs because dynamic-link library (.dll) files for Windows Media Services are updated in Windows Server 2003 SP1. To make these features available for remote administration, install Windows Server 2003 SP1 or later on the remote computer.
Archiving distributed playlistsApplies to the following Windows Server 2003 releases: Service Pack 1 (SP1), Service Pack 2 (SP2)
You can use a remote broadcast publishing point on another Windows Media server (the origin server) as the source for a broadcast publishing point. When the publishing point sources from a remote publishing point, your server is used as a distribution server for the origin server.
You can also choose to archive the content from the origin server. However, a false archive file may be generated along with the normal archive file when you stop and then restart archiving on the local publishing point. This file is generated as the result of a timing issue and occurs under the following conditions.The remote broadcast publishing point on the origin server is sourcing from a playlist. The Start publishing point when first client connects property is enabled on the remote broadcast publishing point. The distribution server connects to the origin server through HTTP.
This file can be deleted from the archive location. To prevent the extra file from being created, you can do one of the following:
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Legal NoticeThe information contained in this document represents the current view of Microsoft Corporation on the issues discussed as of the date of publication. Because Microsoft must respond to changing market conditions, it should not be interpreted to be a commitment on the part of Microsoft, and Microsoft cannot guarantee the accuracy of any information presented after the date of publication.
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