Table Of Contents

Configuring WMT Streaming Media Services on Standalone Content Engines

Overview of the Windows Media Services Streaming Solution

Overview of the WMT Streaming and Caching Services

About the WMT RTSP Protocol

How Standalone Content Engines Process WMT Requests

About WMT Streaming and Caching Services with Standalone Content Engines

About Caching Policies in WMT Streaming Media Caching

About WMT Proxy Caching

About WMT Transparent Caching

About Live Splitting with WMT

About Proxy Authentication for a WMT-Enabled Content Engine

Configuration Guidelines

WMT Proxy Server Requirements

Checklist for Configuring WMT Streaming and Caching Services on Standalone Content Engines

Configuring WMT RTSP Streaming and Caching Services on Standalone Content Engines

Checklist for Configuring WMT RTSP Streaming and Caching Services on Standalone Content Engines

Enabling WMT Licenses on Standalone Content Engines

Configuring General WMT Settings on Standalone Content Engines

Configuring Incoming and Outgoing WMT Bandwidth and Bit Rates

About Variable WMT Bit Rates

Configuring Subnet-Based Outgoing Bandwidth

Configuring a WMT Bandwidth Incoming Bypass List

Configuring Fast Streaming Features on Standalone Content Engines

Configuring Fast Start on Standalone Content Engines

Configuring Fast Cache on Standalone Content Engines

Configuring Transparent Redirection of WMT Requests

Configuring RTSP Transparent Redirection of WMT Requests

Enabling and Configuring WMT Caching on Standalone Content Engines

Enabling and Configuring Nontransparent WMT Proxy Caching on Standalone Content Engines

Enabling and Configuring WMT Transparent Caching on Standalone Content Engines

Configuring Standalone Content Engines to Distribute VOD Files

Verifying That Preloaded VOD Files Are Cached and Properly Distributed to Windows Media Clients

Configuring Standalone Content Engines to Deliver WMT Live Streams

Configuring Standalone Content Engines to Multicast Live WMT Streams

Configuring Multicast-In Multicast-Out on Standalone Content Engines

Configuring Unicast-In Multicast-Out on Standalone Content Engines

Defining WMT Multicast Stations and Multicast Schedules on Standalone Content Engines

Starting and Stopping WMT Multicast Stations

Configuring an Alternative Source URL (Source Failover) for a WMT Multicast

Configuring Standalone Content Engines to Unicast Live WMT Streams

Configuring Multicast-In Unicast-Out on Standalone Content Engines

Configuring Unicast-In Unicast-Out on Standalone Content Engines

Clearing WMT Streams on Standalone Content Engines

Displaying Information about the WMT RTSP Server Configuration

Displaying Information about the Current WMT Configuration

Displaying WMT Statistics

Using WMT Logging with Standalone Content Engines

Using WMT Multicast Logging

Using WMT Transaction Logging

Specifying the Format of the WMT Transaction Logs

Extended Windows Media Services 9.0 Logging Format

Enabling the Logging of Usernames to the WMT Transaction Log

Windows Media Transaction Log Forwarding

Using WMT Error Logging

Logging WMT Client Disconnects

Logging the Clearing of WMT Streams on Standalone Content Engines

Configuring WMT Streaming Media Services on Standalone Content Engines

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This chapter provides an overview of the Windows Media Technologies (WMT) streaming and caching services, and describes how to use the Content Engine CLI to configure these services on standalone Content Engines.

This chapter contains the following sections:

•Overview of the Windows Media Services Streaming Solution

•Overview of the WMT Streaming and Caching Services

•Configuration Guidelines

•Configuring WMT RTSP Streaming and Caching Services on Standalone Content Engines

•Enabling WMT Licenses on Standalone Content Engines

•Configuring General WMT Settings on Standalone Content Engines

•Configuring Transparent Redirection of WMT Requests

•Enabling and Configuring WMT Caching on Standalone Content Engines

•Configuring Standalone Content Engines to Distribute VOD Files

•Configuring Standalone Content Engines to Deliver WMT Live Streams

•Displaying Information about the Current WMT Configuration

•Displaying Information about the WMT RTSP Server Configuration

•Using WMT Logging with Standalone Content Engines

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Note Throughout this chapter the following terminology is used. The Windows Media streaming and caching services are collectively referred to as the WMT feature. Windows Media Player 9 Series clients are called Windows Media 9 players. Windows Media Services 9 servers are called Windows Media  9 servers. The Windows Media Services 9 RTSP backend server that is running on the Content Engine is called the WMT RTSP server. The term WMT RTSP transparent redirection is used to refer to RTSP transparent redirection (WCCP Version 2 services 80 and 83) of WMT RTSP requests from Windows Media 9 players.

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For background information about streaming media services, see the "Understanding Some Basic ACNS Streaming Media Concepts" section on page 2-10. For complete syntax and usage information for the CLI commands used in this chapter, see the Cisco ACNS Software Command Reference, Release 5.5 publication.

For information about how to configure streaming media services for Content Engines that are registered with a Content Distribution Manager, see the Cisco ACNS Software Configuration Guide for Centrally Managed Deployments, Release 5.5. For information about using the WMT diagnostic tools for troubleshooting purposes, see the "Troubleshooting with the WMT Diagnostic Tools" section on page 22-11.

Overview of the Windows Media Services Streaming Solution

The Windows Media Services (WMS) is the Microsoft streaming solution for creating, distributing, and playing back digital media files on the Internet. Windows Media Services 9 Series (WMS 9) is the new Windows Media solutions from Microsoft.

Table 9-1 describes the major components of Windows Media Services.

Table 9-1 Components of Microsoft Windows Media Services 

Component	Description
Windows Media player	Desktop application that the end user runs to play requested digital media files (for example, Windows Media 6.4 players and Windows Media 7.0 players, Windows Media 9 players or Windows Media 10 players). These clients can take advantage of the VCR-like controls in the Windows Media player to pause the stream or to skip backward or forward (in the case of stored content [video on demand]).
Windows Right Manager and Encoder	Content-creation application.
Windows Media Server	Server and distribution application that uses an application-level protocol called Microsoft Media Server (for example, Windows Media 9 server and Windows Media 4.1 server) to send active streaming format (ASF) files across the Internet.

With WMS 9, Microsoft introduced a major change in the streaming protocol. Windows Media Services 9 Series by default uses a new RTSP-based protocol for streaming.

These are the streaming protocols currently used by Windows Media 9 players:

•Windows Media Services 9 Series RTSP/RTP-based protocol

•Windows Media Services 9 Series-over-HTTP

As Figure 9-1 shows, a Content Engine, which is running the ACNS 5.5.1 software, has full interoperabability with the Windows Media 9 server and a Windows Media 9 player over all of these streaming protocols.

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Note Although the Windows Media Player will play a file using the HTTP protocol (from port 80), the Content Engine does not support HTTP streaming because the Content Engine does not buffer HTTP files.

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Figure 9-1 Streaming Protocols Supported for WMS 9 in the ACNS 5.3.1 Software or Later

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Note In the ACNS 5.3.1 software and later releases, RTSP/RTP is a supported streaming protocol. Consequently, RTSP requests from Windows Media 9 players are supported. Proxy caching (caching VOD files) and live splitting for WMT RTSP is supported. In centrally managed deployments (that is, Content Engines are registered with a Content Distribution Manager), managed live events are also supported. You use the Content Distribution Manager GUI to configure a managed live event. Standalone Content Engines do not support managed live events. End-to-end RTSP (from the client to the encoder) is not currently supported for managed live events. For information about configuring managed live events, see the Cisco ACNS Software Configuration Guide for Centrally Managed Deployments, Release 5.5.

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When using direct proxy routing or WCCP redirection to route requests to standalone Content Engines, the unicast published URL can be the following:

•rtsp://liveChannelOriginFqdn/program-name (added in the ACNS 5.3.1 software release)

In the ACNS 5.3.1 software and later releases, the live stream source of a Windows Media live program can be one of the following

•http://encoder:port-number

•rtsp://wmStreamingServer:port-number/file name (RTSP support was added in the ACNS 5.3.1 software release)

For more information about WMT RTSP, see the "About the WMT RTSP Protocol" section.

The ACNS 5.2.1 software and later releases interoperate with the following software:

•Windows Media Services 9 (WMS 9) Series—Includes the Windows Media 9 player, Windows Media Encoder, and Windows Media 9 server.

In the ACNS 5.3.1 software to ACNS 5.4 software releases, WMT RTSP and WMT MMS are supported. In ACNS 5.5.x release, WMT MMS is not supported but WMT RTSP is supported.

•Windows Media Services 4.1 Series—Includes the Windows Media Player 4.1 Series, Windows Media Encoder, and Windows Media 4.1 server.

Content Engines that use a Content Service Switch (CSS) to load balance streaming traffic cannot stream UDP traffic (such as RTSPU), because the Content Service Switch does not support UDP traffic.

Overview of the WMT Streaming and Caching Services

When the WMT feature is enabled on the Content Engine, the Content Engine provides a native (integrated) WMT server that delivers Microsoft's standard streaming formats (.ASF, .WMA, and .WMV files) through either unicast or multicast streams. The integrated WMT server has the ability to serve the streams to the clients by VOD, broadcast (live), and multicast. The WMT feature also allows a standalone Content Engine to support WMT transparent caching and WMT proxy caching.

The WMT feature on a standalone Content Engine is licensed software. To enable this feature on a Content Engine, you must have a WMT license key. You must specify a permanent license key that is supplied on a certificate shipped with the Content Engine, or use an evaluation key for a temporary period. If you are downloading the ACNS 5.x software, you can purchase a WMT license though the Cisco.com website. You specify the WMT license key as part of enabling the WMT feature on a standalone Content Engine. See the "Enabling WMT Licenses on Standalone Content Engines" section.

About the WMT RTSP Protocol

The Real-Time Streaming Protocol (RTSP) is a standard Internet streaming control protocol (RFC 2326). It is an application level protocol for control over the delivery of data with real-time properties such as video and audio. RTSP has been widely adopted in the industry. For example, Apple Computer's QuickTime, RealNetworks' RealMedia, and the Cisco Streaming Engine all use RTSP as the streaming control protocol. In WMS 9, Microsoft added support for the RTSP protocol as the streaming control protocol. In earlier versions of WMS (for example, WMS 4.1), WMS used MMS as the streaming control protocol. In the ACNS 5.3.1 software and later releases, WMT RTSP support for WMS 9 is available (that is, support for RTSP requests from Windows Media 9 players).

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Note In ACNS 5.5 software release, MMS is not supported. However, MMS-over-HTTP is supported.

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The WMT RTSP server, which is running on the Content Engine, uses the WMT RTSP protocol to serve the VOD request to the Windows Media 9 players. The WMT RTSP protocol is the IETF RTSP standard protocol plus Microsoft proprietary extensions. The WMT RTSP server also uses this protocol to support broadcasting. The standard listening port for RTSP services is port 554.

RTSP requests from Windows Media 9 players can be routed directly to the Content Engine or transparently redirected. To route such requests directly to the Content Engine, you must configure the Windows Media 9 players to point directly to the Content Engine. To transparently redirect such requests to the Content Engine, you must configure WMT RTSP transparent redirection (WCCP Version 2 services 80 and 83) on the Content Engine and the WCCP Version 2 router. For more information about configuring Windows Media 9 players to point directly to a Content Engine, see the "Pointing Windows Media 9 Players Directly to a Standalone Content Engine for WMT RTSP Requests" section on page 4-43. For more information about configuring WMT RTSP transparent redirection, see the "Configuring RTSP Transparent Redirection of WMT Requests" section.

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Tip For live streaming, Content Engines always obtain the live stream from an external WMT server; the Content Engine is never the originator of the live content. For a standalone Content Engine to deliver WMT live streams, you need WMT caching proxy and server capabilities on the standalone Content Engine. The WMT product is licensed software and requires a WMT license key. For more information about this license key, see the "Enabling WMT Licenses on Standalone Content Engines" section.

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How Standalone Content Engines Process WMT Requests

Standalone Content Engines can receive WMT requests directly from WMT clients, or from WCCP Version 2 routers or Layer 4 CSS switches (through WMT transparent redirection).

The actual protocol used is negotiated between the WMT client and the server. If both the client and the server are Windows Media Services 9 Series, then the RTSP protocol is used if the URL starts with mms://, and the HTTP protocol is used if the URL starts with http://. If either the client or the server is pre-WMS 9 (the client is a Windows Media 6.4 or 7.0 player, or the server is a Windows Media 4.1 server instead of a Windows Media 9 server), the MMS protocol is used.

In the case of MMS-over-HTTP with Windows Media Services 9 Series, a standalone Content Engine that is running the ACNS 5.3.1 software and later releases, supports the Fast Start and Fast Cache features for preloaded VOD, live-split, and on-demand (cache-hit) content from Windows Media 9 players over the following protocols: HTTP, RTSP, and MMS-over-HTTP. For more information on these features, see the "Configuring Standalone Content Engines to Deliver WMT Live Streams" section and the "Configuring Fast Cache on Standalone Content Engines" section.

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Note Support for the Fast Start and Fast Cache features was added in the ACNS 5.2.1 software. In the ACNS 5.2.x software, these features are only available in MMS-over-HTTP streaming with Windows Media Services 9 Series. In the ACNS 5.3.1 software and later releases, the Fast Start and Fast Cache features are also available for RTSP requests from Windows Media 9 players (WMT RTSP requests).

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In the ACNS 5.2.1 software and later releases, the WMT streaming module contains two sets of processes that handle client requests:

•The mms_server processes that handle MMS-over-HTTP

•The mcast_mms processes that handle MMS requests over IP multicast

In the ACNS 5.2.1 software and later releases, standalone Content Engines use the Fast Start and Fast Cache features to stream live stream-split content or on-demand (cache-hit) content to the client; a Windows Media 9 server cannot stream content to a Content Engine using Fast Start or Fast Cache.

About WMT Streaming and Caching Services with Standalone Content Engines

The term WMT streaming and caching services is used to refer collectively to the two groups of WMT services:

•WMT MMS services (supported in the ACNS 5.2.1 software to ACNS 5.4.x software releases )

•WMT RTSP services for WMS 9 clients and servers (supported in the ACNS 5.3.1 software and later releases)

Table 9-2 lists the types of WMT streaming and caching services that are supported with standalone Content Engines that are running the ACNS 5.2.1 software and later releases.

Table 9-2 WMT Streaming and Caching Services with Standalone Content Engines 

Operation	Description
WMT proxy caching	The Content Engine receives WMT requests directly from a Windows Media player. The Content Engine retrieves the requested content if it is not already stored in its local cache, stores a copy locally whenever possible, and sends the requested content to the client. For more information, see the "About WMT Proxy Caching" section.
WMT transparent caching	The Content Engine receives WMT requests that are transparently redirected to it by a WCCP Version 2 router or a Layer 4 switch. The Content Engine retrieves the requested content if it is not already stored in its local cache, stores a copy locally whenever possible, and sends the requested content to the client. For more information, see the "About WMT Transparent Caching" section.
Distribution of WMT live streams (common)	The Content Engine serves WMT live streams to all local users (Windows Media players) whose WMT traffic it receives. The WMT live streams can be unicast or multicast live feeds. The Content Engine splits the live feeds into multicast or unicast to relay the stream to the WMT client. For more information, see the "About Live Splitting with WMT" section.
Distribution of preloaded VOD files (rare)	VOD files are preloaded on the Content Engine for on-demand delivery of these files to the Windows Media players. VOD caching is similar to HTTP caching; however, VOD files are cached in a different file system (mediafs) on the standalone Content Engine. To configure a standalone Content Engine to distribute VOD files, follow these steps: 1. Preload the VOD files on this Content Engine, as described in the "Configuring Content Preloading for Standalone Content Engines" section on page 11-2. 2. Publish the URLs of the preloaded VOD files that clients can now access through their WMT media players.

About Caching Policies in WMT Streaming Media Caching

In contrast to HTTP caching, caching policies in WMT streaming media caching are much simpler, because streaming media is mostly large static content. The caching policy in WMT caching is straightforward. All responses are cacheable, including partial responses. All WMT requests result in communication between the Content Engine and the origin server, even if the request is a cache hit.

By establishing the streaming control session, the Content Engine can verify that its cached content is fresh, and the client can access the content. Because streaming objects are typically very large in size, the overhead of establishing the control session with the server is minimal and does not reduce the bandwidth savings from the cache hits.

About WMT Proxy Caching

If direct proxy routing is being used to direct WMT requests to the standalone Content Engine, then you can configure the Content Engine to support WMT proxy caching. In direct proxy mode, the standalone WMT-enabled Content Engine accepts incoming WMT streaming requests directly from WMT clients (end users who are using the Windows Media player to request WMT content) and acts on behalf of these clients, communicating with the origin WMT server. This type of caching is referred to as WMT proxy caching.

If the client is a Windows Media 6.4 or 7.0 player, the Content Engine accepts and serves the streaming requests over MMS-over-HTTP. (See Figure 9-2.)

Figure 9-2 WMT MMS Proxy Caching (Direct Proxy Routing)

If the client is a Windows Media 9 player and the Content Engine is running the ACNS 5.3.1 software and later releases, the Content Engine can accept and serve the streaming request over RTSP and HTTP. (See Figure 9-1.)

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Note If a firewall is positioned between a Content Engine and a requesting client, make sure that you assign the external IP address of the Content Engine when explicitly configuring the Windows Media player proxy settings on the end users' desktops to point to directly to this Content Engine.

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You can use the Setup utility or the Content Engine CLI to enable and configure WMT proxy caching on a standalone Content Engine that is running the ACNS 5.2.1 software and later releases.

•For information about how to use the Setup utility to configure WMT proxy caching on a standalone Content Engine, see the "Using the Setup Utility to Configure a Basic Configuration on a Standalone Content Engine" section on page 4-21.

•For information about how to use the Content Engine CLI to configure WMT proxy caching, see the "Enabling and Configuring WMT Caching on Standalone Content Engines" section.

About WMT Transparent Caching

If WMT transparent redirection (WCCP or Layer 4 switching) is being used to direct WMT requests to a standalone Content Engine, then you can configure the Content Engine to support WMT transparent caching. In this case, the standalone Content Engine is acting as a transparent proxy server for clients who are requesting WMT content, and the Content Engine is not visible to these clients. After receiving a transparently redirected WMT request, the Content Engine retrieves the requested content if it is not already stored in its local cache, stores a copy locally whenever possible, and sends the requested content to the client media player.

You can use the Setup utility or the Content Engine CLI to enable and configure WMT transparent caching on a standalone Content Engine that is running the ACNS 5.2.1 software and later releases. If you use the Setup utility, you can only configure the Content Engine to accept redirected WMT requests from WCCP Version 2 routers. If you use the Content Engine CLI, you can configure the Content Engine to accept redirected WMT requests from Layer 4 switches as well as from WCCP Version 2 routers.

For information about how to use the Setup utility to configure WMT transparent caching on a standalone Content Engine, see the "Using the Setup Utility to Configure a Basic Configuration on a Standalone Content Engine" section on page 4-21. For information about how to configure WMT transparent caching on a standalone Content Engine through the Content Engine CLI, see the "Enabling and Configuring WMT Transparent Caching on Standalone Content Engines" section.

About Live Splitting with WMT

The WMT-enabled Content Engine also supports live splitting. By splitting requests for live streams. A single stream from the origin streaming server is split to serve each client that requested the stream. (See Figure 9-3.) If a WMT client requests a publishing point on a remote streaming server without specifying an ASF file, the Content Engine dynamically creates an alias file that references the remote streaming server. All further requests to that remote streaming server are served by having the Content Engine split the stream and serve it to the WMT clients.

When the first client (Client 1) that requested the original stream disconnects from the network, the Content Engine continues to serve the other clients (Client 2 and Client 3), until all clients disconnect from the network.

Figure 9-3 How a Standalone Content Engine Supports Live Splitting

By having the Content Engine perform the live splitting, you potentially save considerable network bandwidth between the client and the origin streaming server because the Content Engine is closer to the clients.

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Note Live splitting is supported for different data packet transport protocols (HTTP and RTSP). In the ACNS 5.3.1 software and later releases, live splitting for two additional transport protocols, RTSPU and RTSPT, is available. To display aggregrated statistics about WMT live streams, enter the show statistics wmt streamstat live EXEC command.

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About Proxy Authentication for a WMT-Enabled Content Engine

The WMT-enabled Content Engine supports both basic and NTLM authentication by the origin server. When a client requests content that needs user authentication, the Content Engine acts as an agent, conveying the authentication information to and from the client and server to authenticate the client. Once the client is authenticated, the content is streamed as usual. The authentication is performed for both cached content as well as noncached VOD content.

The following are the three types of proxy authentication methods:

•Basic authentication—An authentication scheme in which the server requests the client's identification in the form of an encoded username and password. If the authentication fails, the client is informed accordingly, in which case the client retries or disconnects. If the authentication is successful, then the streaming media is served to the client. This is supported in nontransparent proxy mode (direct proxy routing) as well as transparent proxy mode, over HTTP.

•Windows NTLM authentication—A connection-based challenge-response authentication scheme. Because the NTLM protocol authenticates every connection, the proxy cannot arbitrarily create new connections with the origin server, and the proxy must reuse connections initiated by the client.

A file is served from the cache only if it is a complete cache hit; that is, the complete file is present on disk. If the file is not a complete hit, then the entire file is fetched from the origin server in the case of NTLM. NTLM authentication is supported in nontransparent proxy mode (direct proxy routing) as well as transparent proxy mode, over HTTP . The proxy supports caching and delivery of Digital Rights Management (DRM)-protected Windows Media files. Access control lists (ACLs) enforced by the origin server are automatically enforced by the proxy.

•Microsoft Digest authentication—An authentication method in which an initial authentication of the client is performed when the server receives the first challenge response from the client. After the server verifies that the client has not been authenticated yet, it accesses the services of a domain controller (DC) to perform the initial authentication of the client. When the initial authentication of the client is successfully completed, the server receives a Digest session key. The server caches the session key and uses it to authenticate subsequent requests for resources from the authenticated client. This is a connection-based challenge-response authentication scheme similar to NTML authentication. This authentication scheme is supported in nontransparent proxy mode (direct proxy routing) as well as transparent proxy mode over HTTP.

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Note Filtering based on user identification is also supported. The proxy only supports authentication by the origin server. Proxy authorization, or authentication of the user to use the proxy, will be supported in a future release. Live streams that are split to clients are also authenticated with the origin server in the ACNS 5.1 software and later releases.

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In the ACNS 5.3.1 software and later releases, pass-through authentication support for WMT RTSP requests from Windows Media 9 players is available. For more information on this topic, see the "Configuring Pass-Through Authentication for WMT Requests" section on page 10-7.

Configuration Guidelines

This section provides some general guidelines for configuring Windows media streaming and caching services on standalone Content Engines, and then provides instructions for configuring describes how to configure Windows Media services for standalone Content Engines.

When configuring Windows Media streaming and caching services with standalone Content Engines, note the following important points:

•Windows Media Services 9 Series is a set of streaming solutions for creating, distributing, and playing back digital media files on the Internet. WMT includes the end user application (Windows Media 9 players), the server and distribution application (Windows Media 9 server) and the encoder application (Windows Media Encoder).

•If the WMT proxy server fails to serve a request that uses MMS-over-HTTP, the Windows Media 9 player will bypass the proxy and serve the request from the origin server. Previous versions of the Windows Media players (Version 6.4 and 7.0) did not support this feature. Typically, proxy servers fail to serve a request for one of these reasons:

–The requested media file exceeds the configured values in the Content Engine (bandwidth, maximum number of sessions, or maximum bit rate).

–The URL fails to comply with the rules or URL filter configured in the Content Engine.

–The proxy server is down.

Table 9-3 lists the supporting WMT incoming and outgoing proxy modes. As this table indicates, the modes vary based on the release of the ACNS 5.x software that is running on the Content Engine.

Table 9-3 Supported WMT Incoming and Outgoing Proxy Modes 

Proxy Mode	ACNS 5.3.1 Software or Later	ACNS 5.2.1 Software or Earlier	Comment
Incoming proxy mode	•MMS transparent proxy (WCCP transparent redirection through services 81 and 82). Note ACNS 5.5.x software does not support MMS. •WMT RTSP transparent proxy (WCCP transparent redirection through services 80 and 83)	WMT transparent proxy (WCCP transparent redirection through service 82 and 83)	For more information about WMT RTSP transparent redirection, see the "Configuring RTSP Transparent Redirection of WMT Requests" section.
Outgoing proxy mode	•MMS-over-HTTP proxy mode •RTSP proxy mode	•MMS-over-HTTP proxy mode	Use the wmt proxy outgoing global configuration command to configure a WMT outgoing proxy on the Content Engine. In the ACNS 5.3.1 software and later releases, support for an RTSP outgoing proxy server is also available (the wmt proxy outgoing rtsp host command) for WMT RTSP requests from Windows Media 9 players. For examples of how to configure an outgoing proxy server, see Step 10 of the "Configuring General WMT Settings on Standalone Content Engines" section

•You can configure numerous WMT features with the wmt global configuration command.

ContentEngine(config)# wmt ?

  accelerate                   WMT streaming acceleration

  accept-license-agreement     Accept license; View by 'show wmt license-agreement'

  advanced                     WMT advanced configuration

  bandwidth                    WMT bandwidth configurations

  broadcast                    Broadcast live configuration.

  cache                        WMT cache config

  disallowed-client-protocols  Specify disallowed wmt client protocols

  enable                       Enable WMT

  evaluate                     Start/continue 60-day evaluation of WMT.

  extended                     WMT extended configurations

  fast-cache                   Fast-cache feature

  fast-start                   Fast-start feature

  http                         MMS over HTTP configurations

  incoming                     Configuration for incoming WMT requests

  l4-switch                    Configure layer-4 switch interoperability

  license-key                  Required license key for WMT

  live-url-stripping           Strip live URL's ? and beyond

  max-concurrent-sessions   Maximum number of unicast clients that can be 
                               served concurrently.

  multicast                    Multicast configuration and scheduling.

  proxy                        Out-going proxy configuration

  transaction-logs             WMT transaction log configuration

For an example of how to use the wmt global configuration command to configure WMT general settings, see the "Configuring General WMT Settings on Standalone Content Engines" section.

WMT Proxy Server Requirements

The following are requirements for a standalone Content Engine that will be functioning as a WMT proxy server:

•Interoperability is the most important requirement for WMT software components. The WMT proxy server is required to work with all versions of Microsoft Windows Media player, Windows Media Encoder, and third-party Windows Media applications.

•In order to support WMT transparent caching, WCCP Version 2 must be running on the standalone Content Engine.

•You must configure disk space to include mediafs storage with the disk config command before you can cache streaming media using WMT.

•The mediafs partitions is mounted on the standalone Content Engine. This is the storage partition that is used to store any WMT streaming media content that is cached on the Content Engine.

•The Content Engine is running the ACNS 5.2.1 software and later releases.

•You have a Microsoft WMT license key. The Microsoft WMT product is licensed software. To enable the licensed WMT product feature on a standalone Content Engine, you must have a WMT license key, which is supplied on a certificate shipped with the Content Engine. For information about how to specify the WMT license key, see the "Enabling WMT Licenses on Standalone Content Engines" section.

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Note If you are downloading the ACNS 5.x software, you can purchase a WMT license though the Cisco.com website.

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If the WMT license key is no longer needed on the Content Engine because the WMT licensed product feature is not needed, you can uninstall the WMT license key by entering the no wmt license-key global configuration command. After a license key is uninstalled on one Content Engine, it can be used on another device if that device supports the WMT license key.

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Note You must disable the WMT feature using the no wmt enable global configuration command before uninstalling the WMT license key on a standalone Content Engine.

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•You have the IP address of the standalone Content Engine that will be configured as a WMT proxy server.

•You have the IP address of the WCCP Version 2-enabled routers if you want to use transparent WCCP redirection.

Checklist for Configuring WMT Streaming and Caching Services on Standalone Content Engines

Table 9-4 is a checklist of tasks for configuring WMT streaming and caching services on standalone Content Engines that are running the ACNS 5.2.1 software and later releases. This checklist includes the steps involved in configuring these services on a standalone Content Engine, as well as how to configure how WMT requests are routed to this standalone Content Engine.

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Note The Setup utility allows you to enable WMT on a standalone Content Engine that is running the ACNS 5.2 .1 software and later releases, and then configure WMT proxy caching and WMT transparent caching on the Content Engine. For information on this topic, see the "Configuring a Basic Configuration on Standalone Content Engines with the Setup Utility" section on page 4-10.

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Table 9-4 Checklist for Configuring WMT MMS Services with Standalone Content Engines  

Task	Additional Information and Instructions
1. Enable WMT on the standalone Content Engine. a. Accept the WMT license agreement. b. Accept the evaluation WMT license, or specify your Cisco permanent WMT license. c. Enable the licensed WMT feature on the standalone Content Engine.	See the "Enabling WMT Licenses on Standalone Content Engines" section.
2. Configure one or more of the following routing methods to direct client requests for Windows Media content to this standalone Content Engine: –Direct proxy routing (nontransparent) –Transparent redirection (WCCP Version 2 routing or Layer 4 switching)	With direct proxy routing, the Windows Media players send their WMT requests directly to this Content Engine (nontransparent forward proxy server). With direct proxy routing, you must point the Windows Media players directly to the Content Engine, as described in the "Pointing Windows Media Players Directly to a Standalone Content Engine for WMT MMS Requests" section on page 4-45.
3. For direct proxy routing, enable and configure WMT proxy caching on the Content Engine.	See the "Enabling and Configuring Nontransparent WMT Proxy Caching on Standalone Content Engines" section.
4. For transparent redirection, enable and configure WMT transparent caching on the Content Engine.	See the "Enabling and Configuring WMT Transparent Caching on Standalone Content Engines" section.
5. Choose which types of WMT streaming content that this standalone Content Engine will be distributing to clients: –Video-on-demand (VOD) files –Live WMT streams	For VOD files, see the "Configuring Standalone Content Engines to Distribute VOD Files" section. For live WMT streams, choose which methods this Content Engine will use to relay live WMT streams to Windows Media clients: •If multicast out will be used, then to go to task 6. or •If unicast out will be used, then go to task 7.
6. Configure the Content Engine to relay live content to Windows Media clients through multicasting.	See the "Configuring Standalone Content Engines to Deliver WMT Live Streams" section.
7. Configure the Content Engine to relay live content to Windows Media clients through unicast.	See the "Configuring Multicast-In Unicast-Out on Standalone Content Engines" section. See the "Configuring Unicast-In Unicast-Out on Standalone Content Engines" section.

Configuring WMT RTSP Streaming and Caching Services on Standalone Content Engines

This section describes how to use the Content Engine CLI to configure WMT RTSP streaming and caching services on a standalone Content Engine that is running the ACNS 5.3.1 software and later releases.

Figure 9-4 provides a detailed view on how to configure these services initially for standalone Content Engines. Table 9-4 provides a checklist of tasks for configuring these services on a standalone Content Engine.

This section also describes how to perform the necessary configuration changes to the Windows Media 9 players (if direct proxy routing is to be used) and the necessary configuration changes to WCCP Version 2 routers (if WMT RTSP redirection through WCCP [services 80 and 83] will be used).

Figure 9-4 Configuring WMT RTSP Streaming and Caching Services with Standalone Content Engines

After you have configured the WMT RTSP caching services as depicted in Figure 9-4, you use the exact same procedure to configure WMT streaming services regardless of whether the MMS-over-HTTP or the RTPS protocol will be used to deliver the WMT streaming content (live WMT streams and VOD files) to the WMT clients.

Checklist for Configuring WMT RTSP Streaming and Caching Services on Standalone Content Engines

Table 9-5 is a checklist of tasks for configuring WMT RTSP streaming and caching services on standalone Content Engines that are running the ACNS 5.3.1 software and later releases. This checklist includes the steps involved in configuring these services on a standalone Content Engine, as well as how to configure how the RTSP requests from Windows Media 9 players are routed to this standalone Content Engine that is functioning as a Windows Media 9 server.

Table 9-5 Checklist for Configuring WMT RTSP Services with Standalone Content Engines and Windows Media 9 Players 

Task	Additional Information and Instructions
1. Enable WMT on the standalone Content Engine. a. Accept the WMT license agreement. b. Accept the evaluation WMT license, or specify your Cisco permanent WMT license. c. Enable the licensed WMT feature on the standalone Content Engine.	See the "Enabling WMT Licenses on Standalone Content Engines" section.
2. If necessary, specify the RTSP gateway settings. a. If the Content Engine is behind a NAT-enabled router, you must specify the IP address of the RTSP gateway (required). b. You can also change the default basic and advanced RTSP gateway settings (optional).	See the "Configuring the RTSP Gateway for Standalone Content Engines" section on page 8-14.
3. Configure one or more of the following routing methods to direct RTSP requests from Windows Media 9 players to this standalone Content Engine: –Direct proxy routing (nontransparent) –WMT RTSP transparent redirection (WCCP Version 2 routing or Layer 4 switching)	With direct proxy routing, the Windows Media 9 players send their WMT RTSP requests directly to this Content Engine (nontransparent forward proxy server). With direct proxy routing, you must point the Windows Media 9 players directly to the Content Engine, as described in the "Pointing Windows Media 9 Players Directly to a Standalone Content Engine for WMT RTSP Requests" section on page 4-43. With WCCP routing or Layer 4 switching, you must configure the WCCP routers or Layer 4 switches and the Content Engine (transparent proxy server) for WMT RTSP transparent redirection, as described in the "Configuring RTSP Transparent Redirection of WMT Requests" section.
4. For direct proxy routing, enable and configure WMT proxy caching on the Content Engine.	See the "Enabling and Configuring Nontransparent WMT Proxy Caching on Standalone Content Engines" section.
5. For transparent redirection, enable and configure WMT transparent caching on the Content Engine.	See the "Enabling and Configuring WMT Transparent Caching on Standalone Content Engines" section.
6. Choose which types of WMT streaming content that this standalone Content Engine will be distributing to clients: –Video-on-demand (VOD) files –Live WMT streams	For VOD files, see the "Configuring Standalone Content Engines to Distribute VOD Files" section. For live WMT streams, choose which methods this Content Engine will use to relay live WMT streams to Windows Media clients: •If multicast out will be used, then to go to task 7. or •If unicast out will be used, then go to task 8.
7. Configure the Content Engine to relay live content to Windows Media 9 players through multicasting.	See the "Configuring Standalone Content Engines to Deliver WMT Live Streams" section.
8. Configure the Content Engine to relay live content to Windows Media 9 players through unicast.	See the "Configuring Multicast-In Unicast-Out on Standalone Content Engines" section. See the "Configuring Unicast-In Unicast-Out on Standalone Content Engines" section.

Enabling WMT Licenses on Standalone Content Engines

Before enabling licenses for WMS on a Content Engine, make sure that your Content Engine clock and calendar settings are correct; otherwise, you will see an error message and the services will fail to install. To display the system clock, use the show clock EXEC command. To set the system clock, use the clock set EXEC command.

To use the Content Engine CLI to enable Windows Media Services on a standalone Content Engine, follow these steps:

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Step 1 View the WMT license agreement.

ContentEngine# show wmt license-agreement

Step 2 After reading the license agreement, enter global configuration mode and accept the license agreement.

ContentEngine# configure terminal

ContentEngine(config)# wmt accept-license-agreement

Step 3 Enter your Cisco license key for the WMT product.

ContentEngine(config)# wmt license-key licensekey

Alternatively, accept an evaluation WMT license.

ContentEngine(config)# wmt evaluate

Step 4 Enable the WMT feature on this Content Engine.

ContentEngine(config)# wmt enable

Step 5 When asked if you want to proceed, enter yes to proceed.

This operation needs to restart http proxy and real proxy (if running) for memory 
reconfiguration. Proceed? [no] yes

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The next step is to choose one or more of the following routing methods to direct client requests for Windows Media content to this standalone Content Engine:

•WCCP routing or Layer 4 switch (WMT transparent redirection for WMT MMS requests, and WMT RTSP transparent redirection for WMT RTSP requests)

•Direct proxy routing (nontransparent)

With direct proxy routing, the Windows Media players send their requests directly to this Content Engine (acting as a nontransparent forward proxy server). For instructions on how to configure a Windows Media player on the end user desktops to point directly to this Content Engine as their proxy server, see the "Pointing Windows Media Players Directly to a Standalone Content Engine for WMT MMS Requests" section on page 4-45.

Configuring General WMT Settings on Standalone Content Engines

To configure the general WMT settings on a standalone Content Engine through the Content Engine CLI, follow these steps:

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Step 1 Disallow specific WMT client protocols for streaming with the wmt disallowed-client-protocols global configuration command:

wmt disallowed-client-protocols {http | rtspt | rtspu}

In the ACNS 5.3.1 software release, the following changes were made to this command:

•The rtspt and rtspu options were added.

•The tcp and udp options are hidden for backward compatibility.

Parameter	Description
disallowed-client-protocols	Specifies disallowed WMT client protocols.
http	Disallows streaming over the HTTP protocol (http://).
rtspt	Disallows streaming over the rtspt protocol (rtspt://).
rtspu	Disallows streaming over the rtspu protocol (rtspu://).

Step 2 Configure the maximum number of unicast clients that a standalone Content Engine can support concurrently. The default is 2500 clients.

ContentEngine(config)# wmt max-concurrent-sessions number

number specifies the maximum number of incoming unicast requests that the Content Engine should serve concurrently. This limit is subject to physical resources on the Content Engine (1 to 8000).

Step 3 Specify the maximum bandwidth for preloading WMT content on the Content Engine.

ContentEngine(config)# wmt max-bandwidth incoming bitrate

With the ACNS 5.x software, you can preload WMT streaming media files that may have different bit rates at the URL specified for content preloading. You can also control WMT bandwidth and bit rates using the wmt max-bandwidth and wmt max-bitrate global configuration commands.

Step 4 Specify the maximum bit rate per WMT stream that can be received by the Content Engine.

By default, there is no limit. This bit rate is called the WMT incoming stream bitrate.

ContentEngine(config)# wmt bitrate wmt incoming bitrate

bitrate specifies the WMT incoming stream bit rate in kilobits per second. This value can be from 0-2147483647.

Step 5 Specify the maximum bit rate per WMT stream that can be served by the Content Engine. By default, there is no limit. This bit rate is called the WMT outgoing stream bit rate.

ContentEngine(config)# wmt bitrate wmt incoming bitrate

bitrate specifies the WMT outgoing stream bit rate in kilobits per second. This value can be from 0 to 2147483647.

For more information about configuring bandwidth and bit rates, see the "Configuring Incoming and Outgoing WMT Bandwidth and Bit Rates" section.

Step 6 Specify the maximum size of a single object that the Content Engine should store in its WMT cache.

Use the wmt cache max-obj-size global configuration command to specify this value. The range of values is between 1 and 1,000,000 megabytes. The default value is 1024 megabytes.

ContentEngine(config)# wmt cache max-obj-size size

Step 7 Enable WMT caching on the standalone Content Engine if it is not already enabled.

ContentEngine(config)# wmt cache enable

Step 8 Enable WMT live URL stripping.

ContentEngine(config)# wmt live-url-stripping enable

Step 9 Enable transparent redirection through a Layer 4 switch instead of through a WCCP router:

a. On the Content Engine, enable transparent redirection of MMS requests through a Layer 4 switch.

ContentEngine(config)# wmt l4-switch enable

b. On the Content Engine, enable transparent redirection of RTSP requests through a Layer 4 switch.

ContentEngine(config)# rtsp l4-switch enable

Step 10 To configure a WMT outgoing proxy on the Content Engine, use the wmt proxy outgoing global configuration command.

Configure a Content Engine to send all of its MMS cache miss traffic to a specific MMS outgoing proxy server, or send its MMS-over-HTTP miss traffic to a specific HTTP outgoing proxy server, or send all of its WMT RTSP cache miss requests to a specific RTSP outgoing proxy server without using ICP or WCCP. In the ACNS 5.3.1 software and later releases, you can also configure an RTSP outgoing proxy server for WMT RTSP requests from Windows Media 9 players.

The command syntax is as follows:

wmt proxy outgoing {http | mms| rtsp} host {hostname | ip-address}

where:

•http is the keyword for an outgoing MMS-over-HTTP proxy configuration.

•rtsp is the keyword for an outgoing RTSP proxy configuration.

•host is the keyword for the outgoing proxy server.

•hostname is the hostname or ip-address is the IP address of the outgoing proxy server.

In the following example, a Content Engine at a branch office is configured to use MMS-over-HTTP to send all its WMT cache miss requests to a central Content Engine at 172.16.30.30 through port 8080:

ContentEngine(config)# wmt proxy outgoing http host 172.16.30.30 8080

In the following example, a Content Engine at a branch office is configured to send all its MMS cache miss requests to a central Content Engine at 172.16.30.31 through port 1700:

ContentEngine(config)# wmt proxy outgoing http host 172.16.30.31 1700

In the following example, the Content Engine at a branch office is configured to use MMS-over-TCP (MMST) or MMS-over-UDP (MMSU) to send all its cache miss RTSP requests to a central Content Engine at 172.16.30.30 through port 8080:

ContentEngine(config)# wmt proxy outgoing rtsp host 172.16.30.30 8080

In the following example, the Content Engine at a branch office is configured to use RTSP to send all its cache miss RTSP requests from Windows Media 9 players to a central Content Engine at 172.16.30.30 through port 8080:

ContentEngine(config)# wmt proxy outgoing rtsp host 172.16.30.30 8080

Step 11 Decide which type of media file should be served by WMT.

Typically, Content Engines are shipped with a default list of filename extensions to be served by WMT. The default list in the Content Engine contains the following filename extensions: asf, none, nsc, wma, and wmv. The default list of filename extensions includes none in order to enable a Content Engine to serve media files without file extensions (for example, broadcast aliases or URLs of live encoders). The filename extension nsc is included in the list to enable a Content Engine to multicast media files.

a. To add filename extensions to this list, use the wmt http allow extension global configuration command.

b. To remove a filename extension from the list, use the no wmt http allow extension global configuration command.

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Note In the ACNS 5.2.1 software release, the wmt mms allow extension EXEC command was replaced with the wmt http allow extension EXEC command. The show wmt mms allow extension EXEC command was also replaced with the show wmt http allow extension EXEC command.

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The following restrictions apply to adding new file extensions to the list:

–You cannot have more than 20 extensions in the list of allowed file extensions.

–File extensions must be alphanumeric, and the first character of every extension should be an alphabetic one.

–You cannot have more than 10 characters in a file extension.

The following example adds the file extension mp3 to the list of file extensions to be served by WMT:

ContentEngine(config)# wmt http allow extension mp3

ContentEngine(config)#

Step 12 View the file extensions included in the list after you add or delete file extensions.

ContentEngine(config)# exit

ContentEngine# show wmt http allow extension

The show wmt http allow extension EXEC command does not display anything if you have not modified the default list.

Step 13 (Optional) Disable one or more of the following three WMT streaming acceleration features that by default are enabled on the Content Engine:

•Live split

•Proxy-cache

•VOD

Use the appropriate no wmt accelerate global configuration command to disable the feature.

a. To disable the acceleration of live splitting, enter the no wmt accelerate live-split command. To reenable this feature on the Content Engine, enter the wmt accelerate live-split enable command.

b. To disable the acceleration of proxy caching, enter the no wmt accelerate proxy-cache command. To reenable this feature on the Content Engine, enter the wmt accelerate proxy-cache enable command.

c. To disable the acceleration of serving VOD files to WMT clients, enter the no wmt accelerate vod command. To reenable this feature on the Content Engine, enter the wmt accelerate VOD enable command.

Step 14 Configure the WMT Fast Streaming features on the Content Engine:

a. Specify the maximum burst bandwidth (in kilobits per second [kbps]) for the Fast Start feature. This value specifies the maximum burst bandwidth that a single player can use for accelerated initial buffering of the streaming content. For example:

ContentEngine(config)# wmt fast-start max-bandwidth 3000

The Fast Start feature allows the Windows Media 9 server to push the beginning portions of a stream to the Windows Media 9 player at the maximum available bandwidth. This feature is enabled on a Content Engine by default. The increased bandwidth that this feature initially uses to send data to the Windows Media 9 player can overburden a network if many players connect to the stream at the same time. The maximum burst bandwidth can be from 1 to 65535 kbps. The default is 3600. The maximum value is associated with the WMT license. By default, the Fast Start feature is enabled on the Content Engine. For more information, see the "Configuring Fast Start on Standalone Content Engines" section.

b. Specify the maximum delivery rate (maximum acceleration factor) for the Fast Cache feature. For example:

ContentEngine(config)# wmt fast-cache max-delivery-rate 5