You can use a remote multicast broadcast as a source of content
for a broadcast publishing point or to create an archive file for
later, on-demand or broadcast playback. By setting a distribution
server at the edge of a network to receive a multicast transmission
and rebroadcasting it to network clients as a unicast broadcast,
you can overcome multicast incompatibilities within your network
and reach users who would not normally be able to receive your
multicast content. If you are broadcasting content to widely
distributed networks from a central location, you can reduce the
necessary bandwidth at the origin server by multicasting the
content. Local distribution servers can then rebroadcast the
content to individual users or can archive the content for
on-demand access.
Note
You can include a multicast stream as a content
source in a server-side playlist by specifying the URL to the
multicast information file as a src attribute of a
media element. To do this, the playlist that references the
multicast stream must already be assigned to a broadcast publishing
point. Then, using the playlist editing control on the
Source tab in the Windows Media Services snap-in, add a
media element for the multicast stream. You cannot add a
multicast stream to a playlist using the Playlist Editor. When
adding the URL to the multicast information file, you must specify
an absolute path, such as MCast://C:\Wmpub\Wmroot\File.nsc or
MCast://\\MachineName\Inetpub\Wwwroot\File.nsc.
Note