Throughout the next segments, we will introduce you to some of the changes implemented in video and media server technologies since mid-1997. The balance of the new material in this book will emphasize a hybrid "video/media" terminology mainly because the server for media applications has moved well beyond just the "video" (with audio) domain.

As the conclusion of the 1990s neared, it was evident that video server systems would indeed become the media record and playback backbone future for the facility. Video/media servers now play an important part within many segments of media content recording and delivery systems.

Ten years prior, as the foundations for multichannel direct to home (DTH) broadcasting were being excavated, the media store and delivery solution employed multiple videotape transports arranged into automated library and robotics systems that would ingest, store and replay program material. Later, cache servers were added to supplement the operations. As both new facilities and second generation disaster recover sites for these mammoth distribution plants were being planned or built, the emphasis is on large-scale servers and the migration away from those tape-based technologies. Some facilities have already opened the door to more advanced server-based hybrids, which will store pre-encoded HD material for retransmission, and other non-525/625 line data formats.