Flash Media Interactive Server and Flash Media Development Server can host an unlimited number of applications and an unlimited number of instances of each application. Flash Media Streaming Server can host an unlimited number of instances of the live and vod services.

For example, Flash Media Interactive Server could host a web conferencing application, a video blogging application, a video chat application, and a multiplayer game, as well as the live and vod services. You can create multiple instances of each of those applications. For example, use instances to give groups of people access to the same application without having the groups interact with each other, such as a video chat application with rooms for different topics.

Applications must be registered with Flash Media Server so the server knows who they are when they try to connect. To register an application with the server, a developer creates a folder for the application in the main applications folder, which is located in the root installation folder by default (Flash Media Server 3/applications). To create instances of an application, a developer creates subfolders within that application's folder (for example, Flash Media Server 3/applications/exampleApplication/instance1). For more information, see the Developer Guide.

The server administer can change the location of the applications folder. The server administrator can also divide the server into multiple adaptors and virtual hosts, and each virtual host can have its own applications folder. For more information, see Configuring the server.