About This Manual

Macromedia Flash Media Server 2 enables one-to-one, one-to-many, many-to-one, and many-to-many communication in real time between applications created in Macromedia Flash 8. Developers create these applications using ActionScript, a scripting language based on the same standard used by the JavaScript language.

Flash Media Server communicates with Macromedia Flash Player using the Real-Time Messaging Protocol (RTMP), an unencrypted TCP/IP protocol designed for high-speed transmission of audio, video, and data messages. You can also administer the server over HTTP. You can use the same server administration application programming interface (API) over HTTP as you would over RTMP. By passing command strings and arguments to the URL of your Flash Media Server, you can interact with the server to retrieve information or modify the server configuration. This API is described in detail in the Server Management ActionScript Language Reference, included with Flash Media Server.

This manual describes how to configure and manage Flash Media Server to support media applications deployed on a variety of network configurations. The rest of this chapter provides system requirements, describes the Flash Media Server documentation, and lists additional resources.

Flash Media Server enables applications to communicate with other servers. This manual does not discuss web server and application server management or server operating system setup.