In the console tree, click the publishing point that hosts the
stream you want to test.
In the details pane, click the Announce tab, and then,
in Unicast streams, make note of the value in URL that
clients may use to your content.
Start Windows Media Player on a computer that should have
access to the stream, and enter the URL that you noted in the
previous step.
Using the Player controls, test the control functionality of
the content stream. Broadcast streams can make use of the
Start and Stop commands. On-demand streams can make
use of the Start, Stop, and Pause commands, as
well as the Seek bar.
Test all of the available streaming protocols. A unicast stream
will attempt to connect using the MMS protocol, but will switch to
the RTSP protocol if network conditions or the Player version
requires it. The HTTP protocol will not be active unless the WMS
HTTP Server Control Protocol plug-in is enabled. For more
information about protocols, see Protocol overview.
Allow the stream to play for a representative period of time
and check that the stream quality is sufficient for the type of
content and the capabilities of the equipment.
Notes
This procedure only applies to the Windows Media
Services snap-in.
A true test of stream availability requires a
Windows Media Player session on a computer under the most adverse
connection circumstances. For instance, if some members of your
expected audience will access the stream from a dial-up connection
outside a network firewall, your testing scenario should include
that condition.
If you are streaming by using a multicast
transmission, use the Multicast Announcement Wizard to create a Web
page that your test computers can connect to and test the
stream.
Notes