“Microsoft has licensed StarBak Communications, a small
Ohio-based company, to deliver Microsoft’s Windows Media Format
media streams on StarBak’s Torrent streaming media network
appliance lines and streaming media cache products. The kicker?
StarBak will be delivering Microsoft proprietary media services
from embedded Linux systems. For the first time, Microsoft is
officially blessing Windows server functionality delivered from a
Linux platform.”
“Open-source programmers have duplicated other Microsoft server
services. Samba for Windows Server Message Block (SMB) file
services is the most notable example. But, this is the first time
Microsoft has entered into a business relationship with a Linux
company to deliver Microsoft services from a Linux platform.”
“How They’d Do It?”
“StarBak produces dedicated streaming media server appliances
built around Sun’s Ultrasparc processors and embedded Linux. The
bottom end system, the Torrent 100, has 256MB of RAM, a 30GB hard
drive and Fast Ethernet connectivity. These server appliances,
according to the company, can deliver up to 3,000 QuickTime, MPEG-1
and Windows Media Format (WMF) audio/video streams at a time.”