ViewCast Niagara 9100 series User manual

Niagara®9100 Series User Guide

© 2011 ViewCast Corporation. All rights reserved.
ViewCast, Niagara SCX, ViewCast logo, SimulStream, Niagara, GoStream, Niagara logo, and Osprey
are trademarks or registered trademarks of ViewCast Corporation or its subsidiaries.
Microsoft, Windows XP, Windows, Windows Media, and Silverlight are trademarks or registered
trademarks of Microsoft Corporation
QuickTime, iPhone, iPad, and iPod are trademarks or registered trademarks of Apple Inc.
Adobe and Flash are trademarks or registered trademarks of Adobe Systems Inc.
Disclaimer
The information in this publication remains the property of Corporation. Users may not use, reproduce, or disclose this information without
the implied consent and written approval of the company.
ViewCast Corporation makes no representations or warranties with respect to the contents or use of this manual and specifically disclaims any
express or implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for any particular purpose. Further, ViewCast Corporation reserves the right to
revise this publication to make enhancements in the products described in this manual, at any time, without obligation to notify any person or
entity of such revisions or changes. In no event will ViewCast Corporation be liable for direct, indirect, special, incidental, or consequential
damages arising out of the use or inability to use the product or documentation, even if advised of the possibility of such damages.
ViewCast Corporation is not responsible for any third-party license fees that may occur with the use of our products by an end user including
but not limited to creating or distributing content. The user is responsible for any fees the Multimedia Patent Trust may apply for creating and
distributing MPEG content.
Warranties
For complete warranty details, refer to the specific warranty included with each product. General warranty information includes the following:
Limited Warranty: ViewCast warrants its hardware products against defects in material and workmanship under normal use for the period of
one year (12 months) from date of sale. Where specific warranties exist that provide coverage that is more substantial, notwithstanding the
warranty provisions herein, such product warranties control and preempt or supersede the warranty provisions herein.
Reseller Pass Through of Standard Limited Warranties: Resellers pass the ViewCast standard limited warranties for the products through to
the customer without modification. Any modification of a product voids the ViewCast warranties or any other existing or available warranty.
Corporate Contact Information
ViewCast collaborates and partners with various clients to integrate products into their individual environments.
Niagara Technical Support: Phone: [phone], Fax: [phone] or submit the technical support online request from the ViewCast
website.
ViewCast USA Support: Monday through Friday: 9 a.m. –5 p.m. Central Time. Typical response time is within one business day for customers
without a Priority Support Agreement.
ViewCast Corporation 3701 West Plano Parkway, Suite 300, Plano, TX 75075-7840 USA
Toll Free (U.S. only): 800.250.6622 website: www.viewcast.com

Niagara 9100 Series User Guide
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Contents
Before You Begin................................................................................................................1
Product description.......................................................................................................................... 1
Audience .......................................................................................................................................... 1
Conventions for this guide............................................................................................................... 2
Rack mount safety instructions ....................................................................................................... 3
FCC notice ........................................................................................................................................ 4
Installing additional software .......................................................................................................... 5
Connecting to the Internet .............................................................................................................. 5
Environmental notices..................................................................................................................... 6
Warnings.......................................................................................................................................... 7
Overview..............................................................................................................................9
Media system functions................................................................................................................... 9
Install overview.............................................................................................................................. 10
Prerequisites .................................................................................................................................. 10
Package contents ........................................................................................................................... 10
System requirements..................................................................................................................... 11
Specifications........................................................................................................................... 11
Niagara 9100 series front panel..................................................................................................... 12
Niagara 9100 series back panel ..................................................................................................... 14
Connecting the system .................................................................................................................. 15
Niagara 9100 series directional buttons........................................................................................ 16
Niagara 9100 series home page..................................................................................................... 17
Menu bar commands .............................................................................................................. 17
Niagara 9100 series browser windows flow.................................................................................. 19
Easy Setup.........................................................................................................................21
Web interface ................................................................................................................................ 22
Easy first time set up...................................................................................................................... 23
Connecting to an electrical power source............................................................................... 23
Performing the initial startup.................................................................................................. 24
Connecting to an IP network................................................................................................... 26
Basic Operations...............................................................................................................27
Logging in....................................................................................................................................... 27

Contents
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Creating an encoder....................................................................................................................... 29
Viewing all encoders ...................................................................................................................... 30
Starting an encoder........................................................................................................................ 31
Stopping an encoder...................................................................................................................... 32
Connecting an external storage device.......................................................................................... 33
Advanced Operations.......................................................................................................35
Adaptive Apple HTTP Live streaming encoder with analog inputs................................................ 36
Video tab ................................................................................................................................. 37
Audio tab ................................................................................................................................. 41
Output tab............................................................................................................................... 42
Adaptive Adobe Flash Dynamic streaming encoder with analog inputs ....................................... 44
Video tab ................................................................................................................................. 45
Audio tab ................................................................................................................................. 49
Output tab............................................................................................................................... 50
Adaptive Microsoft Smooth Streaming encoder with analog inputs ............................................ 52
Video tab ................................................................................................................................. 53
Audio tab ................................................................................................................................. 57
Output tab............................................................................................................................... 58
Adobe Flash H.264 encoder with analog inputs ............................................................................ 60
Video tab ................................................................................................................................. 61
Audio tab ................................................................................................................................. 64
Output tab............................................................................................................................... 65
H.264 Presets........................................................................................................................... 67
AVI encoder with analog inputs..................................................................................................... 68
Video tab ................................................................................................................................. 69
Audio tab ................................................................................................................................. 72
Output tab............................................................................................................................... 73
MPEG4 encoder with analog inputs .............................................................................................. 75
Video tab ................................................................................................................................. 76
Audio tab ................................................................................................................................. 80
Output tab............................................................................................................................... 81
H.264 Presets tab .................................................................................................................... 83
MPEG-4 Presets tab................................................................................................................. 84
Microsoft Windows Media encoder with analog inputs ............................................................... 85
Video tab ................................................................................................................................. 86
Audio tab ................................................................................................................................. 89
Output tab............................................................................................................................... 90
DRM tab................................................................................................................................... 93
Adaptive Apple HTTP encoder with digital inputs ......................................................................... 94

Niagara 9100 Series User Guide
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Video tab ................................................................................................................................. 95
Audio tab ................................................................................................................................. 99
Output tab............................................................................................................................. 100
Adaptive Adobe Flash encoder with digital inputs...................................................................... 102
Video tab ............................................................................................................................... 103
Adaptive encoder video stream table................................................................................... 105
Audio tab ............................................................................................................................... 107
Output tab............................................................................................................................. 108
Adaptive Microsoft Smooth Streaming encoder with digital inputs ........................................... 110
Video tab ............................................................................................................................... 111
Audio tab ............................................................................................................................... 115
Output tab............................................................................................................................. 116
Adobe Flash H.264 encoder with digital inputs........................................................................... 118
Video tab ............................................................................................................................... 119
Audio tab ............................................................................................................................... 122
Output tab............................................................................................................................. 123
H.264 Presets tab .................................................................................................................. 125
AVI encoder with digital inputs.................................................................................................... 126
Video tab ............................................................................................................................... 127
Audio tab ............................................................................................................................... 129
Output tab............................................................................................................................. 130
MPEG4 encoder with digital inputs ............................................................................................. 132
Video tab ............................................................................................................................... 133
Audio tab ............................................................................................................................... 136
Output tab............................................................................................................................. 137
H.264 Presets tab .................................................................................................................. 139
MPEG4 Presets tab................................................................................................................ 140
Windows Media encoder with digital inputs............................................................................... 141
Video tab ............................................................................................................................... 142
Audio tab ............................................................................................................................... 144
Output tab............................................................................................................................. 145
DRM tab................................................................................................................................. 148
Viewing encoder groups .............................................................................................................. 149
Creating encoder groups.............................................................................................................. 150
Starting an encoder group ........................................................................................................... 151
Stopping an encoder group ......................................................................................................... 151
Editing encoder groups................................................................................................................ 152
Configuring machine properties .................................................................................................. 153
Changing the computer name............................................................................................... 154

Contents
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Changing the login password from the factory default ........................................................ 155
Configuring alerts......................................................................................................................... 156
Configuring network properties .................................................................................................. 157
Configuring network cards .................................................................................................... 157
Configuring IP address........................................................................................................... 158
Configuring advanced network settings................................................................................ 158
System configuration settings...................................................................................................... 159
Setting current system configuration.................................................................................... 160
Configuring email/SMTP settings.......................................................................................... 161
Configuring default directory setting .................................................................................... 162
Setting CPU thresholds.......................................................................................................... 163
Restore Niagara factory defaults........................................................................................... 164
Viewing the activity log................................................................................................................ 165
Viewing alerts............................................................................................................................... 166
Connecting an external storage device........................................................................................ 167
Using the Niagara SCX web interface........................................................................................... 167
Appendix A: DRM for Windows Media...........................................................................169
Importing a DRM profile .............................................................................................................. 169
Appendix B: H.264 Advanced Settings..........................................................................175
H.264 Presets ............................................................................................................................... 175
Settings ........................................................................................................................................ 176
MPEG-4 Presets ........................................................................................................................... 178
Settings ........................................................................................................................................ 179
Appendix C: Mapped Network Drive Setup...................................................................183
Appendix D: System Menu (LCD Display).....................................................................191
System status menu..................................................................................................................... 191
CPU ........................................................................................................................................ 191
Memory................................................................................................................................. 191
HDD ....................................................................................................................................... 191
Operating System.................................................................................................................. 191
Network I/F............................................................................................................................ 191
Monitor status menu ................................................................................................................... 192
CPU&Mem Used.................................................................................................................... 192
Up Time ................................................................................................................................. 192
Index ................................................................................................................................193

Niagara 9100 Series User Guide
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Before You Begin
Thank you for purchasing the ViewCast Niagara 9100 series streaming media system. The Niagara 9100
is a high-density/high-performing multiple encoder platform for service providers, broadcasters, and
enterprises. The Niagara 9100 can be configured for a variety of video and audio inputs including HD SDI,
component, Y/C, composite video with balanced, unbalanced, embedded, and AES/EBU audio. For the
latest ViewCast product information and news, visit www.viewcast.com.
Product description
You can configure the Niagara 9100 with up to eight independent channels. The Niagara 9100 series
systems support live Adaptive streaming to Adobe® Flash Media Server and Apple® (iPhone® and iPad®
mobile digital devices), Adobe Flash® H.264, MPEG-4, H.263, H.264, and Microsoft® Windows Media
(Silverlight®) standard and high definition, Microsoft Live IIS Smooth Streaming, as well as container
support for 3GPP and 3GPP2.
You can configure your system by attaching a monitor, keyboard, and mouse to the system (see Easy
Setup).To control your system from another networked computer, use the client interface for remote
management software. The web interface allows you to set many other system parameters for your
Niagara system.
Figure 1. ViewCast Niagara 9100 series
Audience
The audience for this publication includes anyone who uses or administers the Niagara 9100. They
should have a basic technical understanding of streaming media. This user guide provides information
on the Niagara 9100 series only.

Before You Begin
2 ViewCast
Conventions for this guide
This guide uses the following document conventions to help you identify different types of information.
Convention
Description
Example
Bold text
Characters to enter when
referenced in a procedure. The
name of fields or keys to press.
In the example, enter DTMF as
the group type.
Press Enter to save your changes.
Note:
Provides supplemental information.
Note: The prompt may not
display if …
IMPORTANT!
Provides important data that
affects how the system or software
responds.
IMPORTANT! You must install
Niagara SCX prior to
configuring SCX options…
CAUTION!
Provides information to help avoid
possible damage to hardware or a
system crash (without data loss).
CAUTION! Use case sensitive
commands to keep from
destroying…
WARNING!
Provides information to ensure you
avoid potential injury, death, or
permanent system damage.
WARNING! Do not touch
exposed wires.

Niagara 9100 Series User Guide
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Rack mount safety instructions
Operating Temperature
The operating ambient temperature of a rack environment may
be greater than room ambient if installed in a closed or multi-unit
rack assembly. Therefore, you should install the equipment in an
environment compatible with the maximum ambient
temperature of 40° C.
Reduced Air Flow
You must not compromise the airflow required for safe
equipment operation when you install the equipment in a rack.
Mechanical Loading
Mounting of the equipment in the rack should be such that you
do not cause a hazard due to uneven mechanical loading.
Circuit Overloading
Consider the connection of the equipment to the supply circuit
and the effect that the overloading of the circuits might have on
current protection and supply wiring. You must also consider and
use the equipment nameplate ratings when you address this
concern.
Reliable Grounding
You must maintain reliable earth grounding of rack-mounted
equipment. Pay particular attention to supply connections other
than direct connections to the branch circuit (such as using power
strips).

Before You Begin
4 ViewCast
FCC notice
WARNING! You must connect this device and peripherals using shielded cables to comply with
FCC radio emission limits.
WARNING! Modifications to this device not approved by ViewCast Corporation could void the
FCC-granted authority for you to operate the device.
WARNING! The Niagara 9100 series complies with the limits for a Class A digital device
pursuant to Part 15 of the FCC Rules. These limits provide reasonable protection against
harmful interference when you operate the equipment in a commercial environment. This
equipment generates, uses, and may radiate radio frequency energy and, if not installed and
used in accordance with the instruction manual, may cause harmful interference to radio
communications. Operation of this equipment in a residential area will likely cause harmful
interference. In this case you must correct the interference at your own expense.
Note to CATV Installer: Pay special attention to Section 820-40 of the NEC that provides guidelines
for proper grounding. It particularly specifies that you must connect the cable ground to the
grounding system of the building as close to the point of cable entry as practical.
WARNING! Equipment installation must comply with local and national electrical codes.