Not All “HTTP Streaming” Is Created Equal, Nor Is It Always Actually Streaming

Tim Siglin has an excellent article over on StreamingMedia.com today that explains the differences between delivering video via HTTP from a web server and delivering video via HTTP from a streaming server. And he's dead on accurate when he writes how confusing it can be for content owners when CDNs use the term "streaming" to define video delivered via HTTP. In most cases, I think some CDNs are trying to say that their HTTP delivery services can mimic some of the functionality that streaming provides, but they do a poor job of explaining the differences to the customer. Tim's article gives a clear explanation of the differences between the two and how it relates to the Windows Media and Flash platforms.