Most computers are able to upload videos to the web, and this is something that people do all the time. This makes it easy to share your personal, and even your business videos on sites such as Facebook and YouTube. However, some might have a large number of videos they want to share, and simply uploading them one at a time the way they are doing it right now might not be effective enough to work properly, at least not for very long. You may want to choose to have a dedicated streaming media server instead.
Using a machine dedicated to uploading and streaming video is far better than trying to make your current workhorse, whether it is laptop or desktop, try to do all of the work for you. Whenever you are looking for the right dedicated streaming media servers, you need to consider a variety of factors that will help you to make your decision. It needs to conform to everything you need to do, from uploading to streaming.
Consider the Load on the Server
How many other computers and users will be streaming the content you are uploading? If you have a relatively small business, and you are only streaming to a few other users, such as employees in the company, then you might not actually need a dedicated media streaming server. However, if you want to do like most and allow a large number of users to stream through your site and from your server at once, then you need a proper server that is able to handle the load.
The Right Hardware and Software
Naturally, you will want to have a machine that offers a fast processor, as this will help to improve the performance for you and for anyone that streams from the system. The streaming server should have a high performance hard drive, SATA preferably. It should also have a spin rate upwards of 10,000 RPM. Additionally, you have to think about the size of the hard drive, as you need it to be large enough to hold all of the videos you want to host.
Streaming to a large number of people requires commercial streaming software as well. Two quality options that many choose include Adobe Media Server and Apple QuickTime Streaming Server.
The Cost
Naturally having a top quality server computer that allows you to stream videos to a large number of users can be quite expensive. It might be more expensive than some companies can afford comfortably. Those businesses that stream to fewer than 100 users a day may be able to get away without a dedicated streaming media server. However, those who have a greater need can consider renting and collocation rather than actually buying and hosting their own server. Quality hosting comes at a cost, but you should weigh the pros of having a great and reliable host against that cost. If the ROI is good enough then it is naturally worth it.
Before you simply relegate yourself to uploading to YouTube daily for all of your videos, consider the benefits that a dedicated media streaming server can offer. It can make the process of getting videos out to your public faster and simpler, as you will not have to wait on the slow uploading services at Amazon. Those companies that put out several videos a week, or even several each day, for products, will love this speed and convenience. They will also love how easy it is to keep all of their videos in a single location.