NewTek tricaster advanced edition, User Manual, Page: 196 / 339

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Easy to connect to the provider. There are no requirements for open ports on your local
system, or public IP’s. In addition, firewalls do not get in the way.

Disadvantages:
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Live streams that have no viewers are still consuming bandwidth. From a provider point of
view, it is possible that all of our bandwidth could be utilized with no viewers. However, that
is more theoretical than practical.
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Some external streaming providers prefer to Pull streams, as re-connection can be performed
from their end automatically if necessary. But in many venues system administrators are very
reluctant to configure their system with an open port to have your stream Pulled from.
17.6.3
STREAMING MEDIA PROVIDERS
Using a commercial streaming media provider (sometimes referred to as a Content Delivery Network, or
simply ‘CDN’) bypasses otherwise high-bandwidth requirements for the encoding computer. When you have
made arrangements for a streaming media provider to distribute your stream, the encoder only needs
enough bandwidth to get a single a/v stream to the provider. All end users connect to the provider to view
the stream.
Most streaming providers have access to massive bandwidth (and often, with very little notice, they can scale
up your allotment to meet a temporary need.) Since your local bandwidth is really only used for uploading
a single stream, you can send a high quality stream, secure in the knowledge that it will not degrade as soon
as a second viewer attempts to see it.
Hint: A helpful way to find a good streaming service provider is to ask other TriCaster users for
recommendations in NewTek’s online discussion forums.
17.6.4
OTHER RESOURCES
If you’re still struggling with the differences between Push and Pull streaming methods, you can find lots of
online resources (in addition to excellent information available in NewTek’s user forums!)
The popular web resource Wikipedia® hosts many articles on the subject, notably these two:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Push_technology
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pull_technology
Microsoft even hosts an animation on the subject at:
www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/knowledgecenter/wminaction/streaming_pushpull.asx
(Ignore the detailed discussion of configuring the encoder, and just enjoy the pretty pictures – your
TriCaster makes that part easy for you!)