Primus' Helix Real server is available for use by Virtual Web Server customers whose hosting package supports this service. There is no charge to you to use the Real server. Note however, that bandwidth consumed by people playing these audio and video files will be added to your monthly bandwidth-used total. To take advantage of the server, you'll require the following from Real Network's web site

• Real Player
• Real Encoder

Step 1: Create Content

Step 2: Placing the .rm Files on the Server

Each Virtual Web Server customer has a home directory on the server. For example, www.abc.com hosted on one of Primus' UNIX servers might have a home directory of /magma/users/u5/abc . Another example, www.def.com hosted on one of Primus' Windows servers might have a home directory of D:\USERS\ABC .

To utilize the Real server, you must create a subdirectory in your main VWS home directory named " real " (lowercase on UNIX). Once that directory exists, the Real server will recognize your configuration within one hour. (Please wait one hour before testing the Real server with your content).

You'll now have at least two sub-directories in your main home directory:

UNIX
/magma/users/u5/abc/public_html
/magma/users/u5/abc/real

WINDOWS
D:\USERS\DEF\HTML
D:\USERS\DEF\REAL

All of your .rm files must be placed within the real directory.

Step 3: Creating Metafiles

Unfortunately, you cannot access the .rm files directly from your web pages. A secondary file is required, called a metafile . The metafile is simply a plain text file. The meta file will contain a line similar to one of the following:

pnm://real.magma.ca/www.domain.com/file1.rm
rtsp://real.magma.ca/www.domain.com/file2.rm

The pnm:// component is generally used for pre-G2 encoded files or files which were not encoded using the real-time-streaming protocol.
The rtsp:// component is used for files encoded using the real-time-streaming protocol (most Real files now).

This text file needs to be stored with your web pages in the public_html hierarchy (or html under Windows). It MUST have an extension of either .ram or .rpm . The .ram extension will launch the standalone Real player while the .rpm will load the Real player plug-in (within the web browser).

Step 4: Linking to the Meta File on Your Web Pages

This is the final step. On your web pages, you simply need to place a link to the meta file created in step 3.

Example:
<A href="/dreams.ram">Dreams (RealAudio Format)</A>

Option: Embedding the RealAudio plug-in on a web page
The Real server guide explains how to do this quite nicely.

Miscellaneous
There are many other features of the Real server which you can take advantage of. The Real server guide documents all of these features. Some of these include:

• Changing the start and stop times of the audio file
• Changing the title, author, and copyright info embedded in the file
• Custom RealAudio embed Tag attributes
• Synchronized Audio with Events

Option: Using the webserver to stream your Real media files
Primus recommends that you use our Real server to stream your Real media files. However, if you don't need the advanced features which the Real server provides, you can use the webserver associated with your web site to stream them. To do this...

1. place your Real files inside your html (Windows) or public_html (UNIX) content directory (or in a subdirectory below this)
2. in the .ram file which you create, specify the full URL to your Real media file (eg: http://www.yourcompany.com/realcontent/video1.rm)

Option: Streaming Windows Media

1. Upload your Windows Media Video (.wmv) file(s) into your "real" directory.
2. Create your metafile
   • The filename extension should be .asx
   • The file should follow this syntax:
     <ASX Version = "3.0">
     <ENTRY>
     <REF href="http://real.magma.ca:8080/asxgen/www.domain.com/mediafile.wmv"/>
     </ENTRY>
     </ASX>
3. Upload your .asx file into your public_html directory.
4. Create a link to your metafile in one of your web pages