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Intelligent streaming refers to the method by which your Windows Media server works with Windows Media Player to detect network conditions and adjust the properties of a stream automatically to maximize playback quality. With intelligent streaming, users receive a continuous flow of content tailored to their specific connection speeds.
For the server to provide the full advantage of intelligent streaming, you should encode your content using multiple bit rates. Multiple-bit-rate (MBR) content contains several streams encoded at different bit rates, each of which usually corresponds to a common connection rate. When a distribution server is used to deliver multiple-bit-rate content, all of the streams are sent by the origin server to the distribution server. When multiple-bit-rate content is sent to a Player, either from the origin server or a distribution server, only the bit rate that is the most appropriate for current bandwidth conditions is streamed. Windows Media Player determines which bit rate stream to use and communicates this information to the Windows Media server, which then transmits the appropriate stream to the Player. The bit rate evaluation and selection process is completely invisible to the user. Windows Media Services can distribute both multiple-bit-rate streams from an encoder and multiple-bit-rate files.