Zixi Broadcaster enables two types of configurations:
- Cluster configuration - a cluster of Zixi Broadcaster servers in a LAN for load balancing purposes. The different Zixi Broadcaster servers will communicate with each other and are “aware” of the Input/Output traffic of each node in order to redirect the streams to the least occupied Zixi Broadcaster instance. All Zixi Broadcasters should have a separate Public IP (NIC #1) and in addition, they all should have an internal IP on the LAN (Cluster Internal IP) to communicate over multicast (NIC #2). When a request received by the Zixi Broadcaster, it accepts it, or transmit it internally to another Zixi Broadcaster that is less loaded and has the requested channel. The Cluster feature is currently supported for:
- Inputs - Zixi Push inputs
- Outputs - Zixi Pull outputs, HLS outputs
If you want to use more advanced load balancing and high availability features, instead of configuring the cluster within each Zixi Broadcaster (as described below) it is recommended to configure the cluster within ZEN Master, which requires a single cluster configuration and then automatically manages the load balancing and high-availability, while enabling monitoring, reporting, and other advanced features. For more information, see Adding a Broadcaster Cluster – Automatic Scaling
- Edge-Origin configuration - the cluster may be used to forward the stream from one Zixi Broadcaster server (origin) to other Zixi Broadcaster servers (edge) which are closer to the user or is located in a less sensitive environment. When the end-user connects to the edge server to view a certain stream, the edge server will retrieve the stream from the origin server and will seamlessly deliver it to the end-user.
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
Origin | |
Enabled | Enables Edge-Origin configuration. |
Host | The primary host IP address of the origin server. |
Port | The port number in the origin server for transmitting the stream. Default: 2088 |
Alternative Host | The IP address for a secondary server. If the primary origin server is unavailable the data will be retrieved from the secondary origin server. |
Port | The port number for the secondary origin server. Default: 2088 |
HTTP/origin cache size [MB] | The size of the cache that will be used to serve multiple users. The edge server will retrieve the data from the origin and cache it for additional users in order to save bandwidth and increase performance. |
Live Streams | |
Latency [ms] | Specifies the buffer size between the edge and the origin. |
Timeout [s] | Specifies the maximum amount of time in which the edge will attempt to connect to the origin. After the timeout period the edge server will attempt a connection with the secondary origin server. |
Cluster | |
Enabled | Enables Cluster configuration. |
Public IP | The public-facing IP address of this Zixi Broadcaster server for external access. A unique Public IP must be assigned to each broadcaster in the cluster. |
Cluster Internal IP | The internal IP (multi-cast) address for communication between the various servers in the cluster. This address is used to communicate load information forwarding the streams within the cluster. The same multicast IP address should be used across all instances in the cluster. |
TTL | Specifies the Time To Live parameter. |
Port | Specifies the port that are used in all the participating Broadcaster servers in the cluster. |
Local IP | Specifies the local IP address which the network employs for internal communication. |
Balance Inputs | Enables the balancing of the inputs. |
Balance Outputs | Enables the balancing of the outputs. |