Any tips on how to dedicate my PC to running Shoutcast?
 

I have a P3 700 PC with 256 MB of SDRam running Windows 2000, connected via LAN to a Broadband Cable 512k connection. Does anyone have any suggestions on how i could effectively dedicate this system to uploading my SHOUTcast stream?

Do you mean being the source or the server ?

I'm not entirely sure, i'm not amazingly clued up on exactly what happens between me playing the tunes and someone else listening to it at the other end to be honest. I guess ideally what i'd like to do is make this PC the "radio box" so to speak which holds and broadcasts the shows and handles all the listeners for it.
I've been toying with the idea of putting Advanced Server on it.

I think your best bet is to put linux on it, win2k advanced server will bog it down with all sorts of things that are not needed, talking up megs and megs of RAM and gigs of HD space. You can the use it as the source the server and the place where all your mp3s are stored. Most linux distros are pretty easy to install and set up and they are free. I use RedHat 9.

Interesting, is there anything you might be able to suggest to cut down on my Windows 2k's guzzling of resources in the meantime?

Disbale services that you are not using, Win2k has a fairly comprehensive dependcy checking thing in the properties of each service so you can check the impact of disabling a service before you do it. Don't use Win2k server unless you need it to be a domain controller, don't use advanced server unless you need it to be a domain controller and you need the extra features of advanced liek load ballancing clustering etc. If you want to use a propper Windows server OS try 2003 Server as by default it has no extra services running and you just set up what you need. But realy give linux a go its much better, more stable, doesn't give you incomrehensable errors in the event log and will run faster on a Pentium 200 with 256 MB than Win2k Server will on a P4 2Ghz with 1024 Mb RAM.

Well said jackherer, if you want a dedicated music server Linux is the way to go. RedHat 8 is my flavor of choice. The only time my server is down is when I bring it down. Learn Linux and you will be amazingly clued up on exactly what happens.

This is what I use. It's free, like all of their software.


AnalogX SimpleServer:Shout, a multi-threaded streaming MP3 server that allows you to serve content to as many people as your Internet connection will allow! Just set up an MP3 audio source, point it at SimpleServer, click Start, and you're on the air! Then just minimize SimpleServer to the system tray, sit back, and enjoy the tunes!
SimpleServer:Shout supports the Shoutcast streaming MP3 format, logging, and multi-directory support, just to name a few! So if you're looking for a compact, easy to use, streaming MP3 server, then this is for you!


http://www.analogx.com/contents/down...rk/ssshout.htm
ANALOGX free:software:music:information:technology
:up:

The DNAS does the same thing with an extra bonus of having public DNASs being listed in the SHOUTcast yp.

I use AnalogX: QuickDNS and MaxMem. Good stuff.