Microsoft Windows Media Resource Kit (Pro-Resource Kit)

Before the servers leave the test bench, the Fabrikam technicians remove any settings and files they placed on the server for testing, including the following:

• Remove WMLoad.asf from the Windows Media server root directories. If this file is not removed, users can run Windows Media Load Simulator against the server. Prevent unauthorized users from adding a WMLoad.asf file.

• Remove static IP addresses used for testing, and replace with final static IP addresses and domain names provided by the IT department for the hosts and the cluster.

• Remove the test users Lan and NoConnect. Make sure the Everyone group has read-only access, and that the BUILT-IN\Administrators account has full access to the default publishing point.

• Remove test Windows Media files and publishing points. You may want to leave some content temporarily to test the server after it is online.

• Change any test properties and plug-ins. For example, you may have experimented with adding client connection limits or authentication and authorization.

• Change the Affinity setting in NLB to Single. The Fast Reconnect feature of Windows Media Services 9 Series can only work if Windows Media Player reconnects to the same server.

After installing the server and connecting it to the network, do the following:

• Install Windows Media Services snap-in on the computers that will be used to monitor the Windows Media servers. After installation, create a group in the Windows Media Services MMC snap-in and add the cluster servers, and then connect to the cluster with NLB Manager.

  If you add more servers, you can add them to this group. You could also create more groups to monitor additional servers and clusters. This can be useful after adding cache/proxy servers.

• Add the users who will need to use the MMC snap-in to the server’s Administrators group. Only those users who are in the Administrators group on the server can open the server in a remote management interface.

• Configure security for Windows Media Services Administrator for the Web. To provide the highest level of security, use SSL.

• Run through some tests with one or two clients.

  • Stream on-demand content from the root directory.

  • Stream the sample broadcast playlist.

  • Check operation of Windows Media Services Administrator for the Web.

With the server and Media Guide online, and the Media department prepared to create content, phase I of the Fabrikam deployment is finished. In the first part of phase II, we will see how Fabrikam configures the existing studio in the Media department for live production, and then installs encoding computers for live production.