IIS Media Pack 1.0

txsnow — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 16:48:18 GMT

A couple of weeks ago the guys over in the IIS team delivered a new set of media tools for those of you out there who are managing media on IIS. The IIS Media pack consists of two previously released extensions: Web Playlists and Bit Rate Throttling.

Web Playlists allows you to control on the server side, media playlists from your IIS infrastructure rather than having to have a dedicated streaming server. You are in control if you allow clients viewing the files to be able to skip past or seek through a media file in a playlist. Think about it, you could run advertisements for HR's open enrollment before that training video, then bill back HR effectively monitizing an IT asset! Cool stuff.

Bit Rate Throttling gives you the ability to meter the delivery of various media file times (11 in all) including .flv, .wmv, and .mp4 files. This allows you to control how fast or how much data is downloaded to the client. If you are concerned about bandwidth utilization Bit Rate Throttling for your media will allow you to set rules required to manage your bandwidth.

Web Platform Installer hits RC Milestone

txsnow — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 01:00:13 GMT

The folks over in the Web Platform have released a RC (Release Candidate) version of the Web Platform Installer. What is this Web Platform installer you ask? Keep reading to find out more!

Have you ever wanted to deploy an IIS website and been stymied by the myriad of installers and downloads that you have to collect? We tout an integrated platform, yet one of the knocks against Microsoft is that we make it difficult to go get all of the various components. That problem is no more. As my buddy David Lowe in the IIS team says: “It’s like Magnum PI, but without the moustache”.

Who’s it for? IT Professionals, Website Administrators, and Website Developers.

When does it ship? Web Platform Installer is currently released in Release Candidate form.

· http://www.microsoft.com/web/channel/products/WebPlatformInstaller.aspx

What does it do? It’s a single tool that helps you get started installing the Microsoft Web Platform including:

· ASP.NET components

· SQL Server 2008 Express Edition (and all required pre-requisite software)

· IIS Extensions such as Secure FTP, Web Playlists, URL Rewriter, and much more!

· Visual Web Developer

· .NET Framework 3.5 SP1

· SQL Server Driver for PHP

WOW! Impressive, but what if I don’t want to install all of that stuff? WebPI is great in that you can chose a complete install of all the software in the suite, a subset of software specifically designed for the ASP.NET Developer, or even your very own customized configuration.

It’s a Beta? Yes. Currently this is the Release Candidate version of Web PI, but in the coming weeks, the various teams will be releasing updates that offer even more functionality to allow you to setup the Web applications you want and need. All you have to do is use Web PI to configure your environment and then you can stay up to date with the latest product releases and new additions to the Microsoft Web Platform.

Where can I get more information?

Microsoft’s Web Platform Site

IIS.net forums on Web PI

Windows Server Team blog post on Web PI

Musings of an IT Pro Evangelist : Web Platform

IIS Media Pack 1.0

Web Platform Installer hits RC Milestone