ZEC Outputs

ZEC supports the following output types:

  • UDP – Target is a UDP or RTP stream, over unicast or multicast.
  • RTMP – Real Time Messaging Protocol streams can be played on systems that accept this protocol as input. Originally designed to enable Adobe® Flash® streams to be sent between a server and a client, RTMP has become a popular protocol for streaming into content-delivery networks (CDNs).
  • RTMPSRTMP over a TLS/SSL connection.
  • Push Stream – Push streams are Zixi protocol streams destined for other ZEC instances and ZEC in “Accept mode”.
  • TCP –  TCP protocol provides reliable transmission guarantee for no loss of frame. Its bandwidth probing and congestion control will attempt to use all of the available bandwidth between the server and client, fetching content as quickly as possible while being friendly to other (TCP) traffic on the same links. The TCP output can push the stream directly to a TCP socket or to an HTTP server.
  • HTTP Push – The HTTP Push output stream can be encapsulated in HLS or DASH. The source of the output stream is a predefined adaptive group that has been configured in the ZEC Adaptive Groups screen. The configuration of the stream includes the option to delete outdated stream fragments on the server. Output streams can be pushed to one ZECs or ZEC.
  • S3 Bucket – The HTTP output stream (HLS or DASH) can be pushed to an AWS S3 Bucket. The native S3 support includes the ability to configure the S3 authentication credential, including the Region, Access Key, and Secret Key.
  • SRT Caller/Push – The SRT output can be pulled to/from an SRT-enabled device and is configured via Zen Master or ZEC API only. SRT stands for ‘Secure Reliable Transport’ and is an open-source video transport protocol and technology stack. SRT uses secure streams and easy firewall traversal to optimize streaming performance and deliver high-quality video over even the most unreliable networks.
  • SRT Listener/Pull – The SRT Client output can be pushed to an SRT-enabled device and is configured via Zen Master or Zixi API only. SRT stands for ‘Secure Reliable Transport’ and is an open-source video transport protocol and technology stack. SRT uses secure streams and easy firewall traversal to optimize streaming performance and deliver high-quality video over even the most unreliable networks.
  • RIST – The RIST output can be push streams or have them pulled to/from a RIST-enabled device. RIST seeks to provide reliable, high performance media transport by using UDP at the transport layer to avoid the inefficiencies of TCP, then layering on top Forward Error Correction and Retransmits to add the reliability inherently absent from UDP.

When ZEC pulls a stream, a Pull stream definition is generated automatically in ZEC, the stream is identified in the Name and Destination columns of ZEC with the ID and IP address of the ZEC that pulls the stream.

Automated Output Configuration with Output Templates

Instead of manually creating an output and then connecting the output to an input, you can define output templates with rules for automatic creation of outputs with predefined settings. The template includes an Input pattern. When an input pattern matches the pattern of an incoming input stream, the output is created automatically. For more information about Output Templates, see ZEC Using Output Templates.