More Load Test Reports

We've done another round of load testing, this time going through a "large number of sources" test as well as a comparison test with Shoutcast.

All our load testing reports can be found Here

Icecast Release 2.3.0

We are pleased to announce the next release of Icecast.

Downloads:

New features for 2.3.0

Streaming support for ogg speex, ogg flac, ogg midi





intro file support - per mount settable

Intro files will play when a listener first connects to a stream. This is designed for station jingles and the like. If you don't broadcast in ogg vorbis, you must make sure the bitrate/samplerate/number of channels match up to your stream.



on-demand relays, global and per-relay settable

On demand relays only connect to the relayed content when there are listeners attached to the relay. This can save bandwidth in certain cases.



fallback to file, extends on the intro file handling.

With this feature, you can specify a "fallback file" which will be played in a loop and sent your currently connected listeners in the event of a source client disconnect. This means your listeners stay connected while you fix your disconnect problem. Same rules regarding bitrate/samplerate/ number of channels apply as with intro files.



new mount-level settings

1. public, type/subtype, genre settings, stream description, stream url, stream name, bitrate (override what is sent from the source client)

2. mp3 metadata interval

3. on-[dis]connect scripts can be stated per-mount, invoked at source start/stop and take 1 arg which is the mountpoint.





New URL listener authenticator.

This delegates your listener authorization to an external application. URL calls are made on listener connect/disconnect as well as source connect/disconnect. It is meant for large broadcasters who have existing authentication systems that need to be integrated into. Included is an example php-based application that can be used in conjunction with the url authenticator to manage a simple subscription-based broadcast.



HTPasswd authenticator uses in-memory structures now.





On demand files now can be fed through an authenticator





Update to admin/web xslt interface





Icecast can now be installed as a win32 service

Fixes for 2.3.0

* real/helix works

* win32 access log correct

* stats client is stable now (curl -X STATS admin@host:port/)

* show mountpoints on stats that are inactive but have an active fallback

* more updates over HUP possible

* improved stability under heavy load

* moving clients will no longer sometimes deadlock the server

* avoid small writes to reduce TCP overhead.

Load Test Report

We've done a load test of our soon-to-be released Icecast 2.3 to hopefully answer some of the questions that have popped up recently about Icecast's ability to work in high traffic situtations.

This report can be found Here

Icecast Release 2.2.0

On the heels of version 2.1.0, we are releasing 2.2.0 with some new key features.

New features for 2.2.0 (in no particular order)

Theora Video support

Icecast now supports video streaming via theora. Currently, we require the latest (alpha 4) version of libtheora. This is an optional compile, so if you don't have theora then icecast will safely ignore it



Shoutcast style source client support

Icecast now supports the connection protocol used by the Shoutcast DSP source client. This is the same connection protocol used by their NSV encoding tools. This means that not only can you use the Shoutcast DSP to stream to icecast, but that you can also stream NSV via their tools.



AAC is added as a supported streaming format

Not too many source clients support streaming in this format, but we support it.



Cluster password

Now you can specify a cluster password as a option in the config. This will allow you to cluster multiple servers/mounts into a single listing on the stream directory. Note that this is different than "grouping" which groups together streams coming from the same physical IP and with the same stream name. Clusters are meant for relays of the same stream and will only be listed *once* in the stream directory. When a listener tunes into a cluster, they will be served an m3u file with all the clusters for that stream.



Playlist Log

This is an option setting that will create an audit trail of metadata that comes through icecast. It is a single file that contains information for all mountpoints.



Range Support for static files

We now support seeking in files served off the icecast fserve.



Metadata Update via Admin

We now support metadata updates via the admin interface for both MP3 AND Ogg Vorbis streams.



Per mount hidden stats and YP prevention

You many now indicate certains mounts to be excluded (i.e. hidden) from the main status.xsl page. This is useful when using local private relays. You can also override the YP setting (as in disable) on a per-mount basis. Also useful for local private relays.



Multiple example config files

We now have multiple config files for you to use as a base. A "simple" one for quick-start, and a more detailed "advanced" one with all the features, as well as a "shoutcast compatable" one, which shows how you'd config for using the shoutcast DSP.



Relay user/pass

You can now specify authentication used by a relay. This is for the case where you have listener authentication enabled for a mountpoint, and want to connect a relay to it.

Download Icecast 2.2.0 from the Download page.

Icecast Release 2.1.0

After about 8 months in development, version 2.1.0 of icecast has been released.

New features for 2.1 (in no particular order)

Listener Authentication

Icecast now supports listener authentication. This provides a mechanism for creating/maintaining users and passwords for listeners. Currently, we only have implemented a simple, file-based storage for users and passwords. New authenticators are on the horizon (such as URL-based or possibly MySQL based) New admin pages were also added for the maintenance of users/passwords. Please check the docs for a more detailed description of this new feature.



Multi-Level Fallbacks

Multi-level fallbacks allow for specifications of a series of fallback mounts that you can use to automatically move listeners in the event of a source being disconnected. In the event of new listeners attaching to the source stream that has been disconnected, they are routed to the fallback mount (if specified). Icecast now has fallback-override capability as well which means that in the event of a source stream failure, listeners are moved to the fallback mount, and then automatically recaptured when the original source stream returns.



Burst-On-Connect

This is an new, optional config setting which will send a initial burst of data to connecting listeners. This has the effect of reducing (significantly) the startup buffer latency from the end-user perspective. This option is enabled by default.



New Enhancements for 2.1

Update to admin interface

This interface has been cleaned up quite a bit and made a bit nicer.



Rewrite of the YP listing code

The icecast yp code has received a complete overhaul by karl, and it's a much more stable and failure-resistant implementation.



Lots and lots of bugs fixed

Check the ChangeLog for a complete list of these...

Download Icecast 2.1.0 from the Download page.

Icecast Release 2.0.2

This patch release fixes an exploit found by Luigi Auriemma. We recommend that all users currently upgrade to this patch release.

Download Icecast 2.0.2 from the Download page.

Icecast Release 2.0.1

This patch release fixes a overflow buffer which can cause server crashes under certain circumstances. This release contains ONLY the fix for this issue. We are still targetting a 2.1.0 release with new features and functionality in the near future.

Download Icecast 2.0.1 from the Download page.

Ices Release 2.0.0

After far too long in development and testing, the icecast development team has released Ices version 2.0.0. Ices is a source client for Icecast streaming media server. It takes audio from one of the defined inputs and (re)encodes the audio for streaming to icecast for listeners to pick up.

Download Ices 2.0.0 from the Ices page.

Icecast Releases 2.0.0

After years in development and years in alpha testing, The icecast development team has released version 2.0.0 of its streaming media server. Icecast2 supports Ogg Vorbis and MP3 streaming and has many features and functions you would expect from a world class streaming media server.

There are more things to come from the icecast development team, and we have many new features just waiting to be implemented.

Download 2.0.0 from the main download page.

In addition to the new release, we have re-vamped the icecast.org website to hopefully make things easier to access and to get at the information you need faster. Please let us know what you think.