Enterprises have relied on the stability and scalability of the multicast protocol for decades. Recently, however, legacy multicast-enabling software from Microsoft and Adobe has reached a plateau. Microsoft’s Silverlight and Windows Media Server have officially reach end-of-life status, while Adobe’s Flash Player is clearly moving in that direction. These developments are causing corporate IT departments to ask, “what is the future of multicast and can we continue to rely on multicast for live streaming?”
It’s a fair question given how the multicast market has unfolded over the past couple of years, and a worrisome thought for enterprises that have come to rely on multicast. But, before fear takes over, take heart. The answer to the question is yes. Yes, enterprise IT departments can continue to rely on multicast just like they always have. Yes, it’s the end of an era for legacy multicasting software, but there is an even brighter and compelling future ahead for the multicast protocol.
The future of multicast is Ramp Multicast+. Ramp developed Multicast+ with modern streaming protocols and current-day corporate network and infrastructure configurations at top of mind. Multicast+ supports the classic multicast use cases, which enterprises have long used; but, our software also enables new use cases that were previously impossible.
The future of multicast is Multicast+ which is the best option for reaching all your viewers with high-quality, stable transmissions, but without proprietary infrastructure, custom video players, or invasive P2P clients. It leverages – and improves on – multicast technology to provide a standards-based (H.264, HLS, HTML5) solution for cost-effective and easy deployment that doesn’t require network capacity upgrades. Forward error correction (FEC), combined with bandwidth smoothing, deliver a seamless, high-quality viewer experience, even over Wi-Fi connections.
