Web Media Technologies

The Web Media Matrix is an attempt to summarize the information about the currently available media distribution technologies for the web, and to provide a visual way of understanding how these technologies relate to each other.

Overview

Media Delivery Technologies

• Flash (Adobe)
• Windows Media (Microsoft)
• Silverlight (Microsoft)

Server Platforms

• Unix/Linux
• Windows Server (Microsoft)

Desktop Platforms

• Mac OS (Apple)
• Windows (Microsoft)
• Unix/Linux

Browsers

• IE (Windows)
• Mozilla Firefox (Windows, Unix/Linux)
• Opera (Windows, Unix/Linux)
• Safary (Mac OS)

The Web Media Matrix

Client/Server	Windows	Unix/Linux
Windows (IE, Firefox)	SL, Flash, QT	SL, Flash
Mac (Firefox, Safari)	Flash, SL, QT	SL, Flash
Unix/Linux	Flash, SL	SL, Flash

Architecture Approaches

• Use a limited number of Windows-based servers for encoding or other processing tasks.
• Use high-load UNIX-based servers for giving away content for end users.

See Also

• Web Development
• Silverlight

External Links

• Comparison of Video Technologies for the Web
• Adobe Media Server Pricing
• Wowza Media Server Pricing