Octoshape

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Octoshape is a peer to peer streaming media server and client which uses peer to peer grid technology to minimize the bandwidth for any broadcaster to stream any material.

1 How Octoshape works
2 Design points
3 Limitations to consider
4 Availability
5 See also
6 References
7 External links

[edit] How Octoshape works

Octoshape can be used to multicast stream audio (Ogg Vorbis, MP3, WMA) and/or video (MPEG-4, VP3, or WMV and other codecs), or any other stream of data, over the internet. Octoshape uses peer-to-peer grid-distributed bandwidth to minimize the load on the broadcaster's bandwidth. The intention is that each listener will relay either part or all of the stream they download to several other nodes in the grid. The makers of Octoshape hope that sound and video will continue to play without interruption when peers log off.

[edit] Design points

The design of Octoshape is intended to provide the following advantages over conventional streaming technology:

Allow multicasters, particularly small or independent ones, to distribute their streams without need for much bandwidth, reducing their costs.
Allow (in theory) an infinite number of listeners as long as there are enough relays.
When a relay is lost, peers underneath it should not lose their connection to the stream and should continue playing without interruption.

[edit] Limitations to consider

Octoshape is closed source
Octoshape may use high system memory resources even if no media is streaming
Since users' machines are employed as servers, running Octoshape may impose networking costs on the user as in any other P2P technology
Users must accept that Octoshape is using their machines in ways they might not understand fully
Users must reflect on whether Octoshape's server features are allowed by their provider's terms of service

[edit] Availability

Octoshape is implemented mostly in Java. The Windows version of Octoshape is now available as a released product; it is currently in use by large public broadcasters.^[1]^[2]. It is used in 2008 by EBU to broadcast via Internet the Eurovision Song Contest in 2008. It's also used by some Internet radio stations, for example Radio Paradise. Beta versions of Octoshape are available for Linux and Mac based systems.