[dj@megajukebox bin]$ ./shout megajukebox −e 80 −P hackme −p ../playlist
11.6 Bandwidth considerations
Streaming audio can consume vast quantities of bandwidth if the MP3 servers' bit−rate is set too high.
Consider this scenario. A T1 link has a capacity of approx. 1.55 Mb/Sec. If you stream your MP3's at
128K/Bps stereo, each connecting player will use 256K/Bps, so only 6 users could connect to your MP3
server at any time without problems. And at 256K/Bps, you will not get too many modem users connecting!
So you must make a decision at what to set your stream rates not only on what your server's internet
connection is rated at, but what your users will be connecting at. 24K/Bps Stereo will give a reasonable
quality signal that 56K modem users will be able to connect to, and for the same T1 line would allow approx.
32 simultaneous connections.
If your server is running on an Intranet, bandwidth issues will still have to be considered especially if your
network is running 10M/Sec.
But please let either your ISP or sys admin know you are going to stream otherwise you may be in for a
shock. Some ISP's will charge you for bandwidth over a certain limit and sys admins like to know why their
network is now running slow :)
11.7 Copyright Issues
I think it's reasonable to assume that record companies will not like you streaming material without their
permission or payment of some kind! So what can you stream?
This is an area where you will need to be aware of the legal ramifications, because it will be you who will be
liable.
Below are two links, one for the Electronic Frontier Foundation who are advocates of freeing restrictions
surrounding the technology. The other link is to the Recording Industry Association of America, which seeks
to protect the rights of artists from piracy.
I strongly suggest visiting both of the sites, and any others relevant to where you are physically based.
http://www.eff.org/cafe/
http://www.riaa.com/weblic/weblic.htm
12. Listening to MP3's.
So, hopefully, you should now have some MP3 files ready to listen to, and have the choice of playing from
file or stream.
The Linux MP3−HOWTO
11.6 Bandwidth considerations 32
