Is there a specific type of server required to host a station?
 

Total Noob when it comes to this.....

Does the server used for music streaming have to be a certain type of server that can accept multiple users or something like that?

Or can it be a simple Unix server with high or unlimited bandwidth?
Then install shoutcast on the server, then winamp on your machine and you're good to go? is it that easy?

Thanks in advance.......

any machine that has a fully working TCP/IP stack is capable of accepting multiple connections. Windows, unix... yeah.. its all good...

Basically you've got the general process right, install the shoutcast server software on the server of your choice (which CAN be the same machine your source content is coming from), set up winamp or some other source streaming software.. and your good to go. It is that easy. You just need the bandwidth to back it up your stream ;)

"""You just need the bandwidth to back it up your stream """
Some of the cheaper hosting companies offer unlimited bandwidth, Im' prolly looking at 35-45 listeners max but most likely in the range of 10. The station i'm considering taking over has been running 24/7. Would that cause any problems with the hosting company do you think?

Dont know nothin bout' no TCP/IP stack tho... :-) Is that a standard thing on most web servers?

I don't think that would cause problems at all.. I think that 99.9% of the providers sell service that is based on 24/7 usage. And being a radio station, I'm sure they expect you to be broadcasting 24/7.

TCP/IP stack is code that is a part of your operating system that handles putting data into the right "format" for being put out on a TCP/IP network. Web servers are required to have a stack because HTTP uses TCP. ;)

The company I'm considering is just a simple website hosting company. Plus I just dug into thier Terms of service...
-------------------
Due to the unique resource characteristics and traffic patterns associated with certain types of sites, the following are limited to 3 gigs of free traffic:

Sub hosting - any domain housing additional users
Shareware, sound, video, image and multimedia archives
Mirror sites
Distribution points
Any site whose primary purpose is file distribution
---------------------
I'm guessing what i'm planning falls into one or more of thoes categories. I suppose that I'll need to use a hosting comapny that is dedicated to music broadcasting then since i'll probably run into this limitation with most regular hosting companies.

The 3 gigs of traffic limit probably wont go very far huh......

Thanks a bunch for your help on this btw :)

We are also new to this and very interested in the best way of streaming to multiple listeners. Got the financial backing, just need to know the best way to stream.

Is it best to go with a internet radio provider, or get a dedicated server and get lots of bandwidth? How much bandwidth are we looking at here i.e say for 100 listeners simaltaneously?

Any help is greatfully received

Many Thanks
Pleasure Radio

Devilmon: Hah.. 3 gigs... no.. no that won't go far at all.. if you bust out a 128k stream... lessee... lets say that you ALWAYS have ... 10 listeners. no more, no less.. 10 listeners.. 24/7. well.... lesse.. that would be 160kbytes/sec ... 9.4 megs a minute.. 225 megs an hour... which means a little after 13 and 2/3s hours.. you would have hit your limit. LOL.. no problem on the help BTW... if you want, your more than welcome to PM me on here, AIM, or ICQ.. my info is in my profile on here. ^_^

Pleasure Radio ppl:
Hmm.. well, I always like to do things myself.. that way I can set everything up how I like it, I know whats going on, and if something breaks, I have access to fix it and I can fix it. well... 100 listeners even at a lower bitrate can eat some bandwidth... a 128k stream is just what it says... it uses 128 kilobits of data a second. So 128kbits/sec + the packet overhead.. so add a good margin on and you can figure out what it will take... like a 128kbit stream would probably in reality use up 130kbits/sec or so.. so... 100 users on a 128kbits stream will eat roughly 1.6 megabytes of data a second... so you would need an internet connection that is over 13 megabits/sec (or, to put it in more perspective, the equivalent of about 8+ T1's) . Thats some serious money for that kind of internet connection. You might be better off getting a small connection at your centeral location, broadcast your main stream from there, and then sign up with various internet radio providers and cluster everything together... that might be more cost effective.

Thanks for the advice. Basically we just need to know the most effective means of providing a good service to a high audience level. Any websites anyone knows of that provide this kind of service would be most appreciated!!

Many Thanks
Pleasure Radio

Ok here's another question for ya since you're being so generous :D

when you broadcast, do you choose what rate its broadcast at?

what do the different rates do to the music stream? Does it degrade the quality with lower rates? make the stream less reliable? howzit work? Big difference between a 128kbps stream and a 56k stream?

Theres a big difference in price between the various stream rates with the shoutcast hosting providers ive visited.

Thanks again

No problem ;)
 

Yes, you do choose the bit rate, stereo/mono, etc you broadcast at.

Yes, lower bit rates mean lower quality of music. It means more of the audio has been... cut.. so it will fit in a smaller space. The reliablity is the same no matter what bit rate you use. It just effects the quality of audio you are sending out. There is a moderate difference between 128k and 56k stream... 128k is considered near-audio quality... 56k.. you can tell that is sounds worse.. like on a bad radio or something.. you can tell a lot of frequencies has been cut. Of course, if you make a 56k mono and and up the samplerate, you can come out with a decent quality sound. Even with 24k.. if you make it mono and up the samplerate.. you can make it sound decent.

Yeah, thats because 128k streams eat more bandwidth per user. Like I explained in my last post, 128kbit stream means that that stream takes 128 kilobits of data a second to your decoder to make a non-broken, solid audio stream. 128 is a lot more than say 56... or 24... 128kbits/sec adds up pretty quick. Again, to put it in perspective, if you put out a 128kbit stream, 12 listeners will use up an entire T1.

Q: when you broadcast, do you choose what rate its broadcast at?
A: Yes. It's controlled by your Winamp/DSP combo and set by you.

Q(s): what do the different rates do to the music stream? Does it degrade the quality with lower rates? make the stream less reliable? howzit work? Big difference between a 128kbps stream and a 56k stream?
A: Stream quality is directly proportional to the bitrate. The lower the bitrate, the lower the quality. The higher the bitrate, the higher the quality.

Tune into various streams and compare the difference.

Ok... You're answering... so I'm asking......hehe

What the station does is have like 5 dj's throughout the day that stream music from thier machines using winamp and broadcast to a server. (dont know what type they are currently using)

Is Shoutcast a good choice for this kind of operation? pretty easy to administer and keep running? easy to have multiple dj's using it?
I dont want to be constantly playing with it and restarting it etc...

thanks yet again.

yes. yes. yes. yes.

www.radiotoolbox.com/hosts/ has some hosts listed.