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Windows Media Services
Decide which version of Windows Server is right for youWindows Media Services provides streaming audio and video over corporate intranets and the Internet. Windows Media Services delivers basic streaming functionality, such as unicast streaming and server-side playlists, when it is installed on the following Windows Server operating systems:Windows Server 2003, Standard Edition Windows Server 2008 Standard Windows Web Server 2008 Windows Server 2008 R2 Foundation
Windows Media Services delivers advanced streaming functionality, such as multicast streaming, when it is installed on the following Windows Server operating systems:Windows Server 2003, Enterprise Edition Windows Server 2003, Datacenter Edition Windows Server 2008 Enterprise Windows Server 2008 Datacenter
Learn more about which version and edition of Windows Server will best meet your needs.
Windows Server 2003
Windows Media Services 9 Series is available as an optional, installable component in the Standard, Enterprise, and Datacenter editions of Windows Server 2003. Some features are not available when Windows Media Services is used with Windows Server 2003 Standard Edition.
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Windows Server 2008
Windows Media Services 2008 is available as an optional, installable component in the Windows Server 2008 operating system. Some features are not available when Windows Media Services is used with Windows Server 2008 Standard or Windows Web Server 2008. Windows Media Services is not included with Windows Server 2008 Foundation, Windows HPC Server 2008, or Windows Server 2008 for Itanium-Based Systems.
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Windows Server 2008 R2
Windows Media Services 2008 is available as an optional, installable component in the Windows Server 2008 R2 operating system. Some features are not available when Windows Media Services is used with Windows Server 2008 R2 Standard, Windows Server 2008 R2 Foundation, or Windows Web Server 2008 R2. Windows Media Services is not included with Windows Server 2008 R2 HPC Edition or Windows Server 2008 R2 for Itanium-Based Systems.
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Windows Media Services FeaturesThe following table provides an overview of the available features. To get more information about these features, see Windows Media Services Help.
 = This feature is included when Windows Media Services is installed on the operating system
 = This feature is not included when Windows Media Services is installed on the operating system
 = This feature is included only when Windows Media Services is installed on Windows Server 2008 R2
| Feature | Windows Server 2003 Standard Edition | Windows Server 2003 Enterprise Edition and Datacenter Edition | Windows Server 2008 Standard and Windows Web Server 2008 | Windows Server 2008 Enterprise and Datacenter |
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Absolute Playlist Time
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| Advanced Fast Start
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| Advanced FF/RW
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| Advertising server support
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| Broadcast Auto-Start
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| 1Cache/proxy support
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| Custom plug-in support
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| Event-based scripting support
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| Fast Cache
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| Fast Reconnect
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| Fast Recovery
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| Fast Start
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| Fast Streaming
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| Internet authentication method (Digest)
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| Internet Group Management Protocol version 3 (IGMPv3) support
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| Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) support
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| Intranet authentication methods (Negotiate authentication, Anonymous access)
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| Multicast content delivery
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| Multiple authorization methods (NTFS ACL, IP Address)
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| 2 Multiple control protocol support (MMS, HTTP, RTSP)
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| Multiple media parser support (Windows Media, MP3)
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| Multiple playlist parser support (WSX, Directory)
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| Play While Archiving
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| RTSP streaming
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| Robust event notification (WMI, SNMP)
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| Server-based content repacketization
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| Unicast content delivery
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1 In Windows Server 2003, Enterprise and Datacenter editions, you can use a Windows Media server as an origin server and configure cache/proxy properties to control the behavior of a remote cache/proxy server during a streaming event. Windows Media Services 2008 contains a new, built-in WMS Cache/Proxy plug-in that you can use to configure a Windows Media server either as a cache/proxy server or as a reverse proxy server so that it can provide caching and proxy support to other Windows Media servers.
2 The MMS streaming protocol was deprecated beginning with Windows Media Services 9 Series in Windows Server 2003 so that support for MMS streaming is restricted to Windows Media Player for Windows XP or earlier. Support for the MMS streaming protocol is removed in Windows Media Services 2008. To support the widest range of streaming Players, you should continue to use the MMS URL moniker (mms://) in the connection URL to your streaming content (for example, mms://Server_Name/File_Name.wma). The MMS URL moniker allows all connecting Players to use protocol rollover to stream the content using the optimal streaming protocol. For more information, see What protocols can I use to stream to Windows Media Player?
Licensing Windows Media ServicesWindows Server 2003
With the release of Windows Server 2003, Microsoft introduced new licensing options to address customer business needs and to complement the technical capabilities of Microsoft server products. This is part of a broad effort to make software licensing more consistent, predictable, and flexible for our customers.
With the release of Windows Server 2003 R2, Microsoft made further licensing enhancements. For information about Windows Server 2003 pricing for the operating system, client access licenses, and optional connectors, see Windows Server 2003 Pricing and Licensing.
Licensing for Windows Media Services 9 Series is covered by the Windows Server 2003 end-user license agreement (EULA). A separate client access license (CAL) is not required for Windows Media Services. If you are using Windows Media Services to deliver unicast or multicast streams from a server running Windows Server 2003, you are only required to license the server product.
Windows Server 2008
Windows Media Services 2008 is a supplement to the Windows Server 2008 operating system and licensing for Windows Media Services is covered by the license terms for the server product. A separate client access license (CAL) is not required for Windows Media Services. If you are using Windows Media Services to deliver unicast or multicast streams from a server running Windows Server 2008, you are only required to license the server product. For more information see Windows Server 2008: How to Buy.
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