A. Live streaming is the broadcast of real-time media over the internet. Limelight VPS offers an end-to-end solution to manage and broadcast live events. For information on how live streaming works, see our Live Streaming Guide

A. Yes, the same powerful tools that are available for on-demand are also available for live, including geo/domain restrictions, scheduling, metadata management, custom metadata management, player customization, channels and adaptive bit rate delivery.

A. For instructions on how to live stream, see our Live Streaming Guide

A. The following is required in order to live stream:

• Live streaming must be enabled on your account. This depends on your current Limelight VPS package. If you have further questions or would like to enable this on your account, click here to contact us.
• You must have access to a client based live stream encoder. For a list of suggested encoders, see Section 1.1 of our Live Streaming Guide

A. Limelight works with a number of live stream encoding vendors. For a list of suggested encoders, see our Live Streaming Guide

A. All VPS players are enabled for live delivery, permitting publishers to mix both live and on-demand in the same channel and deliver using adaptive bit rate streaming.

A. To ensure quality, follow these rules of thumb when declaring bit rates in your live stream encoder:

• Your upload bandwidth determines the quality that you can deliver. Therefore, you should avoid declaring bit rates that cannot be supported by your bandwidth. To figure out how much upload bandwidth you need, add up your desired bit rates and multiply by 2 (e.g. if you want a 500 stream and a 900 stream your total minimum upload bandwidth should be 2800). A good place to test your upload speed is here: https://www.speakeasy.net/speedtest/
• To ensure quality, declare a bit rate that is equal to or greater than the value of the width (e.g. if your width is 480 make sure the bit rate is 480 or larger)

A. Buffering is usually related to your encoder. Make sure you have a reliable encoder and enough upload bandwidth to support your bit rates. Bit rates that are too high may cause buffering. Therefore, you should avoid declaring bit rates that cannot be supported by your bandwidth. To figure out how much upload bandwidth you need, add up your desired bit rates and multiply by 2 (e.g. if you want a 500 stream and a 900 stream your total minimum upload bandwidth should be 2800). A good place to test your upload speed is here: https://www.speakeasy.net/speedtest/