User:Davidjsmith67/Helix Universal Streaming Server

The Helix Universal Streaming Server is developed by RealNetworks and originates from the very first streaming media server originally developed by Progressive Networks in 1994. The latest generation of Helix Universal Server (Version 14) now supports a wide variety of streaming media delivery transports including RTMP, RTSP, HTTP Live Streaming, Microsoft Silverlight and HTTP Progressive Download enabling mobile phone OS (Android, Blackberry, iPhone OS 3.0, Symbian, Windows Mobile) and PC OS media client (Flash Media Player, Quick Time, RealPlayer, Windows Media Player) delivery.

Helix Universal Server delivers multiple streaming media codecs including H.264, MPEG-4, Flash Media, RealMedia, Quick Time, Silverlight, Windows Media and a wide range of audio codecs including AAC, MP4, MP3, RealAudio.

History
27th July 2002 - Helix Universal Server version 9 launched - the first universal multi-format streaming server - supporting RealMedia, Windows Media, Quick Time and MPEG-4 from a single streaming media platform operating on Linux, Solaris, HP-UX, Compaq Tru64, FreeBSD, IBM AIX, Windows NT and Windows 2000 OS

16th November 2005 - Helix Universal Server version 11 launched adding mobile support for 3GPP and continuing to support RealMedia, Windows Media, Quick Time and MPEG-4 from a single streaming media platform operating on Linux, Solaris, Windows 2000 and Windows 2003 Server OS

November 2007 - Helix Universal Server version 12 launched adding Fast Channel Switching for mobile devices and continuing to support 3GPP, RealMedia, Windows Media, Quick Time and MPEG-4 from a single streaming media platform operating on Linux, Solaris, and Windows 2003 Server OS

30th September 2009 - Helix Universal Server version 13 launched as part of Helix Media Delivery Platform. This version added support for HTTP Progressive Download, HTTP iPhone delivery, Server Side Playlists, Advertising insertion, Live Rate Adaptation for mobile devices and continuing to support 3GPP, RealMedia, Windows Media, Quick Time and MPEG-4 from a single streaming media platform operating on Linux, Solaris, and Windows 2003 Server OS

14th April 2010 - Helix Universal Server version 14 launched supporting universal streaming media delivery transports including RTMP, RTSP, HTTP Live Streaming, Microsoft Silverlight and HTTP Progressive Download enabling mobile phone OS (Android, Blackberry, iPhone OS 3.0, Symbian, Windows Mobile) and PC OS media client (Flash Media Player, Quick Time, RealPlayer, Windows Media Player) delivery. Helix Universal Server continues to support 3GPP, RealMedia, Windows Media, Quick Time and MPEG-4 from a single streaming media platform operating on Linux (RHEL5), Solaris SPARC, Windows 2003 or Windows 2008 Server OS

Specifications
Formats
 * 3GPP, 3GPP2, FLV, F4V, MPEG-4, Windows Media, QuickTime, RealMedia, MP3, SMIL

Codecs
 * H.263, H.264, AAC, AAC Plus (HE-AAC), AMR-NB, AMR-WB, Various Flash codecs in FLV, VC1

Delivery Protocols
 * RTSP, RTP, RBS (Helix-to-Helix), RDT (Helix-to-Helix), HTTP, HTTP cloaking, HTTP Live streaming to iPhone, HTTP progressive download, RTMP, RTMPT, RTMPS, MMS (Windows Media), MS-WMSP

Media Clients Supported
 * PC - Flash Media Player, Quick Time, RealPlayer, SilverLight, Windows Media Player
 * Mobile devices - Android, Blackberry, iPhone OS 3.0 or later, Symbian, Windows Mobile 5.0 or later

Encoders Supported
 * Helix Producer, Helix Mobile Producer and RealProducer - RealNetworks developed encoding software for H.264, H.263, 3GPP, MPEG-4 and RealMedia
 * Envivio - RTP based hardware encoders with H.264, H.263 codec support
 * Viewcast - RTP based hardware encoders with H.264, H.264 codec support

Usage

 * Live streaming of video and audio using RTP encoders or Helix Producer, RealProducer or Simulated Live using on-demand playlist agent
 * On-demand streaming of video and audio files from a wide range of video and audio codecs
 * Large scalabilty through Helix to Helix caching and splitting enabling usage in Content Delivery Networks, Enterprise delivery networks and Educational Campus networks

Architecture
Helix Universal Server is a component of the Helix Media Delivery Platform and enables the delivery of live and on-demand video and audio content to a wide range of media clients on mobile and PC playback devices. Helix Universal Servers are able to be linked to distribute content to enable large scale streaming across the Internet or Enterprise networks and to ensure fully redundant operation with no single point of failure.

Helix Universal Server operates with a wide range of live RTP or RBS (RealNetworks own secure broadcasting protocol) encoders to provide a wide choice of interoperation with 3rd party vendors. RealNetworks develop their own encoder in three versions


 * RealProducer - for live and on-demand encoding of RealAudio and RealVideo for RealPlayer clients
 * Helix Producer - for live and on-demand encoding of H.264, H.263 and RealAudio, RealVideo for MP4 based and RealPlayer clients
 * Helix Mobile Producer - for live and on-demand encoding of H.264, H.263 and RealAudio, RealVideo for 3GPP, MP4 based and RealPlayer clients