ECDN system requirements

General Page

This article provides answers to common questions about IBM Video Streaming ECDN, including licensing requirements, portal access and user management, ECDN server deployment, security updates, DNS configuration, multi-network support, recommended virtual appliance sizing, and viewer capacity considerations. It also outlines best practices for redundancy, server maintenance, and infrastructure planning.

ECDN Frequently Asked Questions

This article answers common questions about ECDN licensing, the ECDN Management Portal, and ECDN server configuration for IBM Video Streaming.

ECDN Licenses

Do I need a separate ECDN license for a redundant ECDN server deployment?

Yes. A separate ECDN license is required to deploy a second ECDN server instance.

Note: We recommend that every location have at least two ECDN server instances for redundancy.

ECDN Management Portal

Can I use my Streaming Manager or Streaming Manager for Enterprise credentials to log in to the ECDN web portal?

No. These are separate applications. The ECDN Management Portal requires its own unique login.

Your IBM sales representative will create the account that provides access to the ECDN Management Portal.

How can I add additional logins to my ECDN account?

Please open a support ticket and include the email addresses for the new logins you would like to add.

ECDN Servers

What are the file sizes of the ECDN virtual appliance images?

VMware ESXi: 0.7 GB
Microsoft Hyper-V: 3.2 GB

What version of ECDN server addresses the Meltdown and Spectre security vulnerabilities?

ECDN server version 2.0.201801231516697504 contains all identified Ubuntu 16.04 LTS operating system fixes available up to January 23, 2018 to address these vulnerabilities.

As new fixes become available, they will be included in subsequent releases.

Exposure to ECDN servers is minimal because the ECDN server runs as a guest virtual machine. This version addresses all security gaps known to us.

You may contact ECDN customer support to request that existing servers be upgraded to the latest version. Most upgrades can be completed within a day, and we will do our best to process upgrade requests as soon as possible.

Host hypervisors are more vulnerable. It is important to immediately apply all hypervisor vendor-specified patches as soon as possible.

If you are creating new ECDN server instances, download and use the latest available version when creating the new virtual machines.

What DNS servers can I use while configuring ECDN servers?

The IBM Video Streaming player communicates with ECDN servers over HTTPS using their fully qualified domain names (FQDNs). These FQDNs must resolve to their corresponding IP addresses through a DNS server.

You may use the DNS server prescribed by your organization. If your organization does not provide one, you may use public DNS servers, such as:

Google DNS: 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4
Quad9 DNS: 9.9.9.9

Can I use the same ECDN edge server to support players from two different internal networks?

Yes. One ECDN edge server can support traffic from multiple internal networks, such as an intranet and guest network.

Make sure that player clients have connectivity to the ECDN edge server over those internal networks.

What is the recommended configuration for the ECDN edge server virtual appliance?

The recommended configuration for the ECDN edge virtual appliance depends on the number of viewer clients expected to connect.

For more details, refer to the ECDN system requirements.

How many viewers can one ECDN instance support?

The number of viewers an ECDN server instance can support depends on several factors, including:

Network connectivity
Hardware configuration
Number of concurrent video streams
Video stream quality