Controlling unicast connections to
a publishing point
The options for controlling client connections depend on the
type of publishing point you use. You can find tools to control
client connections to your publishing point on the Monitor,
Source, and Properties tabs.
On-demand publishing points
To control client connections to on-demand publishing points,
use the following buttons on the Monitor tab:
Deny. Prevents new connections to the publishing point,
but does not disconnect currently connected clients. As connected
clients stop receiving the stream and disconnect from the server,
the number of connections gradually decreases.
Allow. Enables the publishing point to begin accepting
new unicast connections.
Disconnect all. Immediately disconnects all currently
connected clients. (To prevent new connections, you should also
deny new connections.)
Broadcast publishing points
To enable clients to receive content from a broadcast publishing
point, use one of the following options:
Enable the automatic start feature. For publishing
points that are delivering content as a unicast stream, this
feature is controlled by the Start streaming when first client
connects property that is enabled by default in the
General category on the Properties tab. When you use
the automatic start feature, a broadcast publishing point does not
start until the first client connects. This feature is useful when
you are sourcing from an encoder or distribution server and want to
minimize bandwidth usage. If only one client is connected to the
publishing point and that client disconnects, the server closes the
connection with the encoding computer and stops streaming the
content after 30 seconds, thus saving bandwidth. If another client
connects, the server automatically reconnects to the encoding
computer and resumes streaming the content.
Start the publishing point. When you start a broadcast
publishing point manually (for example, by clicking the
Start button), the content begins streaming regardless of
whether any clients are connected. A client connecting to the
broadcast publishing point begins playing the broadcast stream in
progress. You can also stop a broadcast publishing point. If you do
so, all clients stop receiving the stream.
After a broadcast publishing point is started, you can enable
the Deny new unicast connections option, which prevents new
unicast connections to the publishing point. This option does not
disconnect currently connected clients. As connected clients stop
receiving the stream, the number of connections gradually
decreases. If you want to disconnect all clients immediately, you
can select the Disconnect all clients command. If you have
denied connections to your publishing point and want to begin
granting client access, you can choose the Allow new unicast
connections option.
You can control client connections by configuring limits in
publishing point properties. For example, you can limit the number
of client connections and bandwidth usage. For more information,
see Setting publishing
point limits.
Notes
If you are delivering content both as a unicast
stream and a multicast stream, denying new connections only affects
clients receiving the content as a unicast stream.
Stopping the broadcast publishing point also
stops a multicast transmission.
If you are delivering content as a multicast
stream you cannot use the automatic start property because
multicast clients do not connect directly to the server. You can
choose to automatically start the publishing point after completion
of the Multicast Announcement Wizard. Otherwise, you must manually
start the publishing point.
Manually starting a broadcast publishing point
overrides the Start publishing point when first client
connects property. If you want the broadcast publishing point
to start and stop automatically based on client connections, do not
start the publishing point manually.
Notes