Mediaroom

Microsoft Mediaroom Performance Monitoring Using the PAL Tool

by Pri Patel

Over the past year I have been looking at the various ways of analysing performance of the various types of Mediaroom Servers.  Being involved in various support cases and issues I have seen in the field, this is a critical area which network operators have an opportunity to improve and become more comfortable.   Although we [...]

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Mediaroom 2.0 Tools – ETL files and the Logviewer Tool

by Warren Johns

In a previous article, we discussed a number of Mediaroom specific logs and sinks that can be referenced in the event of a failure or simply in your day to day tasks as an administrator. With the implementation of Mediaroom 2.0 some of these old standbys have changed for the better. One such tool is [...]

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Microsoft Mediaroom 2.0 Features – Restart Anytime Overview

by Warren Johns

In my previous article we discussed the Microsoft Mediaroom feature called Live Anytime. Today we are discussing a similar yet different function that network operators can use to enrich an end user’s viewing experience, Restart Anytime. In fact, many operators will use Live Anytime and Restart Anytime as companion pieces to supplement one another in [...]

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Microsoft Mediaroom Health Checks and LabChecks

by Pri Patel

For those of you with Microsoft Premier Support contracts for Mediaroom, you may have been having discussions with your Microsoft Technical Account Manager (TAM) regarding Mediaroom Health Checks and how they can benefit you and your environments. If not, you should seriously consider it. The Health Checks have been built from the ground up by [...]

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Mediaroom 2.0 Features: Live Anytime Overview (Video on Demand)

by Warren Johns

As more and more operators gear up to upgrade their Mediaroom environments to the newest release, 2.0, I have found that there is growing interest in expanding the services that IPTV can provide. Over the last month I have been working on one such service, Live Anytime, with my operator so I thought it would [...]

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Mediaroom Tools and Troubleshooting: Client Snapshots

by Warren Johns

Over the last couple of months, I have spent a great deal of time working with my clients on a Mediaroom tool called Client Snapshots or Client Diagnostic Snapshot polling. With Mediaroom operators expressing a need for historical client diagnostic data to troubleshoot and remedy client-side issues, client snapshots continue to gain more and more [...]

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Microsoft Mediaroom Troubleshooting Using Log Files (Part 2)

by Warren Johns

In last month’s post we began a discussion of some important non-Mediaroom logs that we can use to troubleshoot any number of issues. We focused on four main categories; Windows logs, Networking logs, IIS logs, and SQL logs. Today we continue the conversation through a look at the some Mediaroom specific logs and how they [...]

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Microsoft Mediaroom Troubleshooting Using Log Files (Part 1)

by Warren Johns

Over the past couple of months we have discussed several troubleshooting tools that can assist us in our day to day duties as a Mediaroom engineer (see Mediaroom Troubleshooting: Performance Monitor Acquisition and Distribution Server Counters and Mediaroom Troubleshooting Tools: Client Trace Log Viewer). Today I will continue that discussion with a look at some [...]

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Mediaroom Troubleshooting: Performance Monitor Acquisition and Distribution Server Counters

by Warren Johns

In my previous post we discussed one of the most important troubleshooting tools available in Microsoft Mediaroom, the Client Trace Log Viewer. Today we will discuss another invaluable and well known Microsoft tool — Performance Monitor and how we can set up Mediaroom specific counters to help administrators troubleshoot potential streaming issues. Performance Monitor (a.k.a.perfmon) [...]

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Mediaroom Troubleshooting Tools: Client Trace Log Viewer

by Warren Johns

During my previous blog posts we have discussed what Microsoft Mediaroom is and some of its features which help differentiate it from standard television providers. In my next set of posts we’ll discuss some of the tools that Mediaroom support personnel can use to troubleshoot various aspects of the Mediaroom environment. Over the last couple [...]

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How Microsoft Mediaroom Delivers Reliable Live Television over RTP / UDP

by Warren Johns

In my previous post I discussed one of the main differentiators between Microsoft Mediaroom and standard television services: Instant Channel Change or ICC. In today’s installment, I’ll discuss how Mediaroom can deliver reliable multicast television over RTP / UDP. RTP and UDP Backgrounder Before we start to look at how Mediaroom handles RTP and UDP, [...]

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A Better TV Experience with Microsoft Mediaroom Instant Channel Change

by Warren Johns

Are you one of those people that always wonders what else is on TV? Do you sit with the TV remote in your hand and test the upper and lower limits of the channel map? Don’t like zapping between channels because of the annoying 2-3 second delay? If any of these statements apply to you [...]

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Next Generation Entertainment: A Quick Introduction To Microsoft Mediaroom

by Warren Johns

Over the course of the next few months, I will to use this blog to discuss all things Mediaroom, ranging from design and architecture to best practices for operating an efficient environment. I expect many people reading this post are probably saying, “that sounds interesting, but what the heck is Mediaroom?” I asked a similar [...]

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