--- In videoblogging@yahoogroups.com, Nathan Freitas [EMAIL PROTECTED]
wrote:
Yes, I do. Its what we run all of our video hosting on for Mux.am and
Cruxy.com.
Basically, the rate is 15 cents per GB stored per month, and 18
cents per GB
transfered out each month. So, 3GB of storage will cost 45 cents a
month,
and 60GB transfered will be $10.80 month.
It works well for progressive video streaming - somewhat of a
lightweight
CDN. The downside is that it does basically infinitely scale - if
you get
Dugg or Boing'd be prepared for the costs, as S3 will handle just
about any
load you can throw at it.
+Nathan
On Dec 18, 2007 2:11 PM, Jay dedman [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
Nathan--
do you know much about Amazon's s3 service?
Stan has some issues he's dealing with.
Jay
-- Forwarded message --
From: Stan Hirson, Sarah Jones [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Date: Dec 17, 2007 6:27 PM
Subject: [videoblogging] Amazon S3 for Flash Videos
To: videoblogging@yahoogroups.com
Has anyone had any experience with Amazon's S3 service? I'm having a
lot of trouble with their terminology.
I am currently using DreamHost for my videos. Other than a few
glitches, it's been pretty good and it certainly is cheap. But I am
planning a new project that will require almost instant streaming of
.SWF files to an international audience. Apparently Amazon has the
resources to fill these needs. I just cannot figure out the costs. I
use 3GB of disk space and 60GB of bandwidth per month. But I just
can't make out their jargon.
I wrote AWS and they suggested I ask in their forum. I don't
understand a word of it!
Has anyone had any experience with progressive downloads of Flash
videos with them?
Stan Hirson
http://hestakaup.com
This was all good help for me. Nathan's explanation of the costs as
so close to what I am paying on DreamHost encouraged me to do some
tests. I would like to share the results.
Opening an account through Amazon was very easy, same as for book
shopping.
Setting up the file system was straightforward once I was able to
figure out some of the terminology. For example, in Amazonese,
bucket corresponds to folder. There is easily enough Googled
documentation on this. I uploaded the files using a FireFox plugin,
S3 Organizer. I tested some short SWF files first and, of course,
nothing worked. It turns out I had to set permissions by editing an
ACL file (whatever) so that everyone could read the file. Then the
SWFs worked.
As I use vPIP in my site, there was no problem pointing at the AWS
file by copying the path in S3 although it looks a bit odd compared
with the familiar apache files.
Feeling cocky, I then moved to the big time, longer FLV files sending
up the player as a SWF. And then the heavens opened with a huge dump!
The FLV files did not play and the forums had lots and lots of talk
about the impossibility of playing Flash FLV files in Amazon because
of cross domain issues, etc. and all kinds of computer and Amazonese I
could not understand.
It looked like a total loser for the longer FLV videos. Then I
realized that all I had to do was set up vPIP to use its built-in FLV
player. Gave that a shot and it worked!
There are still some problems. I wanted a minimum amount of
pre-loading -- none if possible -- and I can not do it with the vPIP
player. I get the spinning cobweb for a few seconds.
It works well enough and if there is a way to get it to pop on
instantly and play, that would be great.
To show how S3 works, I made a simple HTML page with a comparison of
the DreamHost hosting using an ON2 player and the Amazon S3 with the
vPIP player.
See for yourslf: http://shirson.com/web_pages/amazon_compare.html
I've picked a scene with difficult compression: 30 fps with moving
horses and landscapes. The motion should be smooth and fluid. 480 x 360.
Thanks Jay, Chris, Nathan, and Markus for your help. I thought I
should pay back and share the results.
Stan Hirson
http://hestakaup.com
