| 摘要 |
<p>The invention provides a system for the delivery of continuous media based on a hierarchical architecture of multiple servers to support a large number of streaming media sessions at any given time over data networks. The data networks may include the Internet, the Intranet or a network of other private networks. In an exemplary embodiment, each server is connected to a local media depository, with some of the servers additionally connected to a shared media depository. A server can supply continuous media to the network from any of the media depositories to which it is connected. Service providers are assigned to servers within the system based upon their requirements as well as the relative abilities of the servers. Once a service provider has been allocated to the servers, requests from a user is then decided based upon this allocation.</p> |
