Scripting Windows Media Services 101

Many users routinely stream audio and video content over the Internet, but few administrators have managed streaming-media servers. With the release of Windows Server 2003, Microsoft Windows Media Services (WMS) has been revamped to make it easier to administer and use. It's so easy, in fact, that companies both large and small are now beginning to stream training videos, company meetings, daily briefings, and other content. This type of content distribution to the workforce has resulted in large cost savings and a more productive workforce. To improve productivity even further, you can use Perl scripts to manage WMS.

For those of you who aren't familiar with streaming media and WMS, let me introduce them to you. Then I'll show you how to write scripts that retrieve WMS information and manage WMS.

What Is Streaming Media?
Streaming media is audio, video, or data delivered over a network in real time. You can broadcast the content or deliver it on demand. . . .