Administration Guide for Cisco Media Experience Engine 3500 Release 3.3

Enterprise Control System (ECS)

The ECS is the software control system that drives all of the intelligence behind the Cisco MXE 3500.

• The ECS controls the entire Cisco MXE 3500.
• The ECS communicates with the SQL database for job/task scheduling, tracking, monitoring, and logging.
• The ECS is also responsible for:

– Validating licenses

– Submitting jobs to the Local Control System (LCS)

– Providing Redundancy/Fault Tolerance in cluster environments

• The ECS runs as a Windows service on the Cisco MXE 3500.

Configuration and Monitoring (CAM) Service

The CAM works along with the ECS. The CAM listens (on port 3051) for incoming requests (new job submissions, status requests, configuration related requests, etc.) from the Cisco MXE 3500 UI and Web services API. It processes the configuration and monitoring (i.e. status) requests and forwards job/license related requests to the ECS for processing.

Local Control System (LCS)

• The LCS is the application that drives all of the encoders and other workers that accomplish tasks, such as file management and notification.
• The LCS is “parented” by the Enterprise Control System (ECS).
• The LCS is the “worker ant” of the system; it derives its intelligence from the ECS.
• The LCS runs as a Windows service.

Workers

The following are types of Cisco MXE 3500 workers:

• Preprocessor : the entry point to the system for videos being processed
• Encoder : QuickTime, H.264, MPEG, and WMV
• Distribution worker : FTP, SFTP, and File Copy
• Fileman worker : performs file system cleanup
• Notification worker : HTTP Post or e-mail notifications

Encode and Transcode Process (Live or File > MXE > Transrated)

Decoding, Encoding, and Transcoding Overview

1. File-based video or IP stream is decoded to an uncompressed AVI temp file.

2. This AVI file is written to disk (default behavior) or memory (Immediate Mode).

3. Encoder specified in the job profile reads the AVI file as a source and outputs the appropriate format.

See also: Data and Video Pipeline.

Data and Video Pipeline

Figure 1-1 provides a visual description of the data/video pipeline.

Figure 1-1 Video Pipeline

Running Jobs

A job is a request to the system to encode, decode, and transcode a video.

This section includes the following topics:

• Job Profiles
• Job Submission
• Input Formats (File-Based Inputs)
• Output Formats (File Based)

Job Profiles

Job profiles are templates that define how jobs should be processed; they can contain part or all of the settings, including input and output formats, required to process jobs from beginning to final distribution.

The Cisco MXE 3500 comes with a set of default profiles.

See also: Job Profiles

Job Submission

The following are Cisco MXE 3500 job submission channels:

• Cisco MXE 3500 User Interface (UI)
• Folder Attendant API
• Video Conversion Interface

See also: Submitting a Job, Automate Job Submission with Folder Attendant, Video Conversion Interface (SUI)

Input Formats (File-Based Inputs)

• File-Based Inputs

– MPEG1, MPEG-2, MPEG4, WAV, Avid OMF, DV, QuickTime, AVI, WMV, MOD, TOD, MTS, Flash 9 and 10, WebEx (.arf)

• Live

– Time triggers

– IP triggers

– Now

– Duration

Output Formats (File Based)

• Cable VOD

– MPEG-2 Transport Stream, AC3 audio, CableLabs compliant

• Mobile

– 3GP, MPEG4, H264, H263, AAC, AMR, Vidiator™ (partial), PacketVideo™, Apple

• Web

– MP4, Windows Media, Flash 7, Flash 8, QuickTime, MP3, Real

• MPEG-2

– MP@ML, MP@HL, 4:2:2@HL, AC3 audio, Program and Transport Streams, DVD Compliant

Accessing the Cisco MXE 3500 Web UI

Access the Cisco MXE 3500 web UI at http:// mxe_IP_address /mxeui/, where mxe_IP_address is the hostname or IP address for the Cisco MXE 3500.

On the Log In prompt, enter User Name: admin. Enter the password created during initial configuration, or the changed password if you have changed the password from the Cisco MXE 3500 Web UI.

Figure 1-2 Cisco MXE 3500 Login Prompt

The web UI, shown in Figure 1-3, is the main UI.

Figure 1-3 User Interface Components

Information Panel

This area provides the following information:

• Server : Displays the host name of the Cisco MXE 3500.
• User : Displays the name of the user currently logged into the Cisco MXE 3500.
• Profile Space : Displays the profile space.
• Logout : Select this link to log out of the Cisco MXE 3500 or log in as a different user.
• Change Password : Click this link to change the Cisco MXE 3500 web UI admin password. The Change Password dialog displays (Figure 1-4). This changes the Cisco MXE 3500 web UI admin password only.

Figure 1-4 Change Password Pop-Up

Menu Bar

The menu bar offers the following options:

• File : Create a New Profile, Open a Profile, Change Password, or Log Out.
• View : View offers the same options that are available from the Toolbox. Select Customize to display or hide user interface components (Navigation column, Toolbox, and Profile Browser).
• Tools : Reset License Cache: Reset licensing information within the UI application. This option is typically performed by an administrator when a Cisco MXE 3500 license is changed / updated on the ECS. Choosing the Reset License Cache operation updates the Cisco MXE 3500 UI with the latest license information.
• Help : View the software version number, contact Cisco MXE 3500 Technical Support, or read Help files.

Toolbox

The Toolbox is a navigation tool that allows you to quickly view any section:

• Submission : Used to submit File or Live jobs.
• Profile Management : Used to create and manage component profiles (Preprocessor, Encoder, Distribution) and Job Profiles.
• Administration : Used to manage host, system, user and role permissions, profile space, custom metadata, Video Conversion Interface (SUI), API, LDAP, and shared folder access settings.
• Monitoring : Used to monitor job status, timed job status, system status, and node health status.
• Reports : Used to create custom status reports.
• Folder Attendant : Used to set up watch folders and track automatically ingested jobs.

Note All functions accessed in the Toolbox can also be accessed from the View menu.

Profile Browser

The Profile Browser, shown in Figure 1-5, behaves in the following ways:

• Click Search (next to Filter Text) to populate the results, then click Create New Profile. Note that this option is not present if you do not have the correct permissions for profile editing.
• If the current page is Job Submission and the Browse Type is Job Profile, double-clicking on a result profile name will select that Job Profile in the Job Submission Job Profile list box.
• If the current page is Folder Attendant and the Browse Type is Job Profile, double-clicking on a Profile in the Results list will select that Job Profile in the Watches Job Profile drop-down.
• If the current page is New Profile or Open Profile and the Browse Type is Job Profile, double-clicking on a Profile name will open that Job Profile for editing.
• If the current page is the Job Profile editing page, double-clicking on a profile in the Results list (profile types that are not Job Profiles), will select that profile in the Job Profile edit page for inclusion in the currently open Job Profile.
• If none of the above conditions are met and you double-click a result task profile name (task profile is any non-Job Profile), the chosen profile will be opened for editing in the profile editing content page. Note that this behavior will only be active if the user has the correct profile editing permissions.

Figure 1-5 Profile Browser

If the Profile Browser is not displayed, depending on your current display, do one of the following:

• From the main menu, select View > Customize > Toggle Navigation Column
• From the main menu, select View > Customize > Profile Browser

Main Window

The Main Window displays the page selected from the Toolbox or from the View menu.