VDO-X

VDO-X FAQ

Our VDO-X CDN management web interface is a user friendly, professional dashboard to upload assets, manage live streams, publish content and generate realtime and in-depth statistics. Do you have specific issues with the VDO-X dashboard? See the VDO-X Walkthrough and read this F.A.Q.

Generic VDO-X Tips

What is the status of VDO-X?

VDO-X is out of beta phase. In the past half year we have tested reliability and features. We are now live with live customers and heavy loads.

What browsers are supported?

Use a modern browser: Firefox 3, Safari 3 or Internet Explorer 7.

Do I need extra software?

Install the latest Flash, Silverlight, QuickTime, Windows Media and Java plug-ins.

What are the connection requirements?

We advise to use a fast broadband connection to upload, upstream and preview assets.

What screen resolution is recommended?

The interface is optimized for large displays: 1680x1050 is the optimal resolution to work with.

Why does VDO-X use a dark interface?

The interface is optimized for Pro users in dark studios, edit suites and network operating centers.

I can't login?

Please check your username and password. In some browsers, do not use enter but click on the login button. If your network is blocking secure websites, please change https to http. We advise to use a secure connection.

I can't use the back/forward/refresh buttons in my browser?

VDO-X is advanced Web 2.0 software that refreshes content in the page dynamically Therefore you do not need to use the forward/back/refresh functions of your browser.

Uploading Assets

The upload boxes don't work?

Make sure that you have the latest JAVA runtime installed. You can drag and drop assets, you can also copy an asset and right-click on a droplet to paste the asset. The droplets use FTP to upload the assets into the CDN. Make sure that your network allows the FTP file transfer protocol. Alternatively use the FTP / FTP TLS-SSL upload feature.

I uploaded an asset to the streaming root, but it is gone?

The streaming root only accepts streaming assets such as WMV, WMA, FLV, F4V, MP4, MOV, 3GP and MP3. Assets with other file extensions will be removed automatically. Upload those assets to the wwwroot.

I deleted an asset into VDO-X within five minutes after uploading

Please wait for the asset to be processed completely before removing or overwriting the asset.

I uploaded an asset into VDO-X within five minutes after uploading an asset with the same name

Please wait for the asset to be processed completely before removing or overwriting the asset.

I uploaded PHP, ASP or CGI assets

The delivery servers do not support server-side scripting. You can upload the assets but you cannot execute them. This is to prevent abuse, unauthorized use, overloading and security issues. Run your scripts and applications from your webserver and offload the webserver by publishing all other content (streams, live streams, media, documents, images and static content) on our CDN.

I can't rename or move files?

This is a CDN, not a CMS. When you upload assets to a CDN, the assets are distributed via a cloud of servers. You cannot rename assets afterwards. Therefore you need to decide the asset name before uploading the asset.

Publishing

I generated a embed code / URL, but it does not work on my website?

1) Check if the Preview works in the Embed Code Generator.

2) Copy and paste the code into your webpage.

3) The embed codes require javascripts to be run from your web server. Download the JS Files archive from the Embed Code Generator, unzip the archive and install these scripts in your website root, in the /embed/ directory.

4) Copy the appropriate javascript tags in the HEAD of your web page. You can find these tags in the readme file in the JS Files archive.

5) Make sure that the paths to the scripts in the embed code and javascript tags reflect the location of your JS files.

Also make sure you haven't locked the asset or the stream. Login to your CDN management interface and unlock the asset or live stream, or use the security token API to grant access to the content.

Can I use the players you have bundled?

Yes you can. We bundle the JW FLV Flash and JW WMV Silverlight players. These are used to show you the preview Flash and Silverlight streams. The JW Player is the most popular Flash player on the market and offers many customization features for advertisement, playlists, skins and interaction. Note that for commercial use you need to get a license from the author of the player(s).

I want to use my own Flash media player

That is supported! Our flash stream CDN URL's are dynamically redirected by generating a XSPF playlist. This allows us to dynamically redirect users to specific servers, for fallback and bursting. XSPF is a simple and easy XML based playlist format that tells your client the server name and the stream name. All you have to do is learn your player how to read the XML based XSPF format, which is very straightforward. JW Player, the most popular Flash Media Player on the market already supports XSPF out of the box. If you want to use JW Player, use version 4.3.x or higher because of support for the variable 'streamer' in the playlist.

I want to use my own Silverlight media player

That is supported. Make sure the player can read standard Windows Media meta (ASX) files, which is the standard metafile format from Microsoft. Any Microsoft compliant Windows Media player should support ASX out of the box and so do all Silverlight players we have seen.

Can I use other media players?

VDO-X can generate embed codes Flash, Silverlight, QuickTime, Windows Media and 3GPP mobile clients. Feel free to test other players that claim compliancy with Flash, Windows Media, QuickTime, MPEG-4 or 3GP streaming and their respective meta files, or our open standard, XML based redirection output format.

Can I bypass the CDN URL and use the direct media server RTSP, MMS, RTMP or HTTP URL?

We do not allow CDN URL bypassing. You must use the central CDN redirection URL. The CDN URL is used for dynamic user redirection, request count, popularity measurement and realtime statistics. If you bypass the CDN ('rediraptor') URL, we do not guarantee the working of our system, we offer no uptime guarantee, no automatic fallback, no bursting, no reporting, no dynamic migration and we can not offer support. The SLA falls back to best effort. We may also decide to migrate your account, migrate servers, change DNS entries, or even block direct media server access in the future which may render your direct URL's useless!!!

My SWF does not load progressive or download content

Downloadable and progressive content is dynamically redirected via HTTP redirect. Make sure that your application supports the HTTP redirect standard.

I want my Set Top Box to playback streams

Streams are dynamically redirected by generating a media playlist that follows the QuickTime, Windows Media and Flash guidelines: ASX, MOV, QTL, XSPF, SMIL, WML or XML for example. Make sure that your STB supports the standard metafile formats, or that it can read the generic XML URL output.

How do I create playlists?

Playlist are not a CDN feature, but should be in your CMS. You can use the Rediraptor urls inside your playlist, you can nest XSPF or ASX playlists (ASX allows 1 level nesting).

I get a 415 Unsupported Media Type Error

You are trying to stream a unhinted asset via the RTSP QuickTime/Darwin Streaming Server. This server requires your MP4, MOV or 3GP files to be hinted. Hint tracks are tracks that can be added during your encoding process. These tracks tell the service how to package the stream. Re-encode your assets, enable 'optimize for streaming server' and upload your assets again.

My live stream breaks?

If there was no issue in your encoder or upstream, there may have been a server incident. VDO-X will automatically redirect viewers to the fallback system. This requires you to have fallback enabled for your account and you have to upstream to the fallback server. Viewers have to reload the stream.

Statistics & reports

Do I get realtime statistics per asset?

Yes, in contradiction to other CDN's you get realtime reports for all assets and live streams.

How fast are the statistics and reports updated?

The realtime statistics are updated every 5 minutes. The historical reports are updated every 60, 120 or 240 minutes.

How long are the statistics saved?

The realtime statistics are available for the last 24 hours. The historical reports are saved for many years.

What does #Req/Min mean?

The number of requests for this asset in the last five minutes are divided by five to report the average current popularity of this asset or live stream per minute. 

I can't login in the historical reports?

I get a Graph Illegal Plot Error?

This is expected behaviour when there is no data to report. For instance, if you have no live streams, the graphical realtime analyzer cannot produce live streaming statistics.

Use your account password, and add the CDN. prefix to your user name. For example, if your username is demo, and the CDN name is CDN, the statistics login name is CDN.demo

Can I get access to my log files?

Yes, you can contact our support department to ask access to your log files so you can post-process your data.

What is your privacy policy regarding our logs?

We will never publish, share or sell your data without your explicit consent. We reserve the right to do generic analysis for operational optimization and to use anonymized data for private presentations.