Cisco® Transcode Manager (CTM) expands the revenue potential of content delivered to any device. Whether setting up a workflow to deliver IP video to a set-top box, PC, or mobile device - as a progressive download or as adaptive bitrate (ABR) over HTTP - Cisco can help you maximize your return on investment (ROI). Cisco Transcode Manager can simplify your workflow and eliminate the bottlenecks, starting with ingestion, encoding, and encryption and ending with quality check, packaging, and delivery to storage and a Content Delivery Network (CDN).
The Cisco Transcode Manager Server is the foundation of Cisco Transcode Manager. As CTM's master controller, the Server stores all data, templates, and events; coordinates and manages load balancing and failover; and distributes jobs associated with the pre-encode analysis, encode, and post-encode functions.
The Cisco Transcode Manager Server is a required node that ships with the Cisco Transcode Manager Client application. The Server acts as an overlay in this distributed encoding architecture. The separate Cisco Transcode Manager Client is used to configure the templates and the workflows that are stored in the Server. For more information, visit http://www.cisco.com/en/US/prod/collateral/video/ps11488/ps11788/ps11797/data_sheet_c78-695841.html.
Features and Benefits
The CTM Server:
• Allows you to scale your transcoding operations
• Manages and monitors grid utilization
• Load-balances jobs for optimal CPU utilization, maximizing your ROI
• Provides a failover solution, protecting you in case of a hardware failure
• Logs and generates reports associated with every job, including customer tracking, encoding times, job history, and error messages
• Provides routine backup and trimming of Server data, automating record keeping and helping to ensure business continuity
Platform Support and Compatibility
Cisco Transcode Manager is optimized for use on Cisco Unified Computing System™ (UCS™), such as on the B200 M2 blade server. This provides customers with a single system that encompasses:
• Network: Unified fabric
• Compute: Industry-standard x86
• Storage: Access options
• Virtualization optimized
• Unified management model
• Dynamic resource provisioning
• Efficient scale
• Lower cost with fewer servers, switches, adapters, and cables
• Lower power consumption
• Fewer points of management
Licensing
License requirements for Cisco Transcode Manager vary by node, as outlined in Table 1.
Table 1. License Requirements
Node
License Requirements
Client
Unlicensed, but required initially for setup and to operate CTM; can be bypassed by the CTM Server API
Server
Required for all installations: one license per server or blade
Encode
Required for transcoding
Analysis
Required for pre-encode analysis and decision logic
Post-Encode
Required for quality check and delivery
System Requirements
Table 2 lists system requirements for the Cisco Transcode Manager Server.
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