Forward Error Correction - general properties

To provide higher-quality content to clients that have unreliable network connections, you can use forward error correction (FEC). FEC sends data packets with redundant data that the client uses to correct missing or corrupted data packets during playback. FEC is useful for wireless networks, satellites, or wide area network (WAN) connections that have long round-trip times between the client and server.

Notes

• Forward error correction can only be used with players that connect to your server using the RTSPU protocol.
• In order to use forward error correction, the player must request that the server send FEC data. If you do not limit the amount of FEC data that the server sends by using the FEC packets per span setting, the server will attempt to deliver the amount of FEC data requested by the player. Excessive FEC data requests can cause the server's processor to be overloaded and may result in poor server performance. If you notice that the processor use is out of the normal range, set the FEC packets per span setting to a lower number.
• Forward error correction is available only if Windows Media Services 9 Series is running on the following editions of the operating system: Windows Server 2003, Enterprise Edition and Windows Server 2003, Datacenter Edition. If you are running Windows Server 2003, Standard Edition, this feature is not supported.

Related topics

• Controlling streaming behavior
• Customizing announcement files
• Understanding Fast Recovery