The enabling technologies behind video servers make DTH, news feed distribution, pay-per-view, video-on-demand and other terrestrial commercial broadcast interests possible. This book has reviewed history and technology, cited applications, and now we will pull those various features and concepts together to portray the feature sets available for today and potentially for tomorrow's next generation of systems.

Factors that have contributed to the evolution of the video (media) server of today include:

• Compression technology (MJPEG to MPEG-2/DV, MPEG-TS only)

• Drive technology (more space for less cost)

• Processor speed and functionality

• Distribution and edge server technologies (Web, compressed digital transmission, networking)

• Storage connectivity (RAID, Fibre Channel and network centric)

• Automation (control and media management)

• Archive and media management (libraries, software/media management, and browsers)

• Acceptance and legacy equipment retirement (digital video, audio and compression, servers are reliable, choices exist)

• Economics (labor, centralization, scale of cost, efficiencies)

• Future Expectations