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EchoVideo: Port Configuration for Live Streaming

Hannah Petty
  • Updated

Live streaming for the EchoVideo active learning platform is provided through a carefully orchestrated combination of:

  • Dynamically scaled hosted streaming servers that support live streaming
  • A capture appliance (EchoVideo Pro, EchoVideo Pod, Universal Capture Installation, or legacy SCHD) that sends live video and audio feeds to a hosted streaming server
  • Users that stream a class live from a hosted streaming server via the Echo classroom in their browser

If you are restricted by firewall rules but your firewall can support FQDN (fully qualified domain names), see Using the FQDN to access the Live pool for streaming at the bottom of the page.

What do I need to do

Your network must be configured to send and receive streams to and from the hosted streaming servers using the ports and protocols outlined below.

  • For sending live video streams each appliance requires the outbound UDP port range 64936-65535 to be open to the hosted streaming servers using the Real-time Transport Protocol (RTP).
  • For playback, EchoVideo supports the HTTP Live Streaming (HLS) protocol for receiving live video streams in the classroom environment. HLS is used to make both the outbound requests to the hosted streaming server and for receiving the inbound stream. All of these outbound and inbound communications use HTTP TCP over port 80.

Important Details

  • The IP addresses used by the hosted streaming servers fluctuate, so a * firewall rule is required.
  • Proxy servers are not supported for an appliance sending RTP via UDP outbound to the hosted streaming server.
  • Safari on iOS does support proxy servers, as these requests use HTTP direct from the browser.

Why

  • Live streaming from EchoVideo requires that the capture appliance send its streams to the exact same hosted streaming server as the users connect to for that particular live-streamed class.
  • Because both the capture appliance and the live class' viewers must connect to the exact same hosted streaming server, it is not possible to load balance behind a single IP.
  • The EchoVideo active learning platform is a multi-tenant SaaS platform; streaming servers are scaled up and down dynamically based on demand, spreading client load across servers.
  • Dynamically scaling these servers prevents the need to specify a single or small set of IP addresses to both receive the stream from the capture appliance and send the stream to class viewers.

Streaming through a restricted firewall

If you are restricted from opening your firewall to the range of IP addresses needed for dynamic assignment of LIVE streaming, EchoVideo now supports the use of the fully qualified domain name (FQDN) live-pool.echo360.org (or .net.au or .org.uk or .ca, dependent upon your region), to enable both outbound device communication and inbound client views. This URL resolves to an IP address that in turn points to a pool of IP addresses (A records). These IP addresses are dynamically updated by the Live Provisioning Service whenever a new live host is brought into the pool.

This capability is particularly important for clients who reside on restricted networks, with little control over the firewall rules (such as on a government network) or for institutions that strictly manage what inbound/outbound traffic is allowed and what ports can be opened.