SlimServer
Encyclopedia
Logitech Media Server is a streaming audio server supported by Logitech
Logitech
Logitech International S.A. is a global provider of personal peripherals for computers and other digital platforms headquartered in Romanel-sur-Morges, Switzerland. The company develops and markets products like peripheral devices for PCs, including keyboards, mice, microphones, game controllers...

 (formerly Slim Devices
Slim Devices
Slim Devices, Inc. is a consumer electronics company based in Mountain View, California, United States. Their main product is the Squeezebox network music player which connects to a home ethernet or Wi-Fi network, and allows the owner to stream digital audio over the network to a stereo...

), developed in particular to support their Squeezebox range of digital audio receivers.

The software is designed for streaming
Streaming media
Streaming media is multimedia that is constantly received by and presented to an end-user while being delivered by a streaming provider.The term "presented" is used in this article in a general sense that includes audio or video playback. The name refers to the delivery method of the medium rather...

 music over a network, allowing users to play their music collections from virtually anywhere there is an Internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...

 connection. It supports a large number of audio formats including MP3
MP3
MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 Audio Layer III, more commonly referred to as MP3, is a patented digital audio encoding format using a form of lossy data compression...

, FLAC
FLAC
FLAC is a codec which allows digital audio to be losslessly compressed such that file size is reduced without any information being lost...

, WAV
WAV
Waveform Audio File Format , is a Microsoft and IBM audio file format standard for storing an audio bitstream on PCs...

, Ogg
Ogg
Ogg is a free, open container format maintained by the Xiph.Org Foundation. The creators of the Ogg format state that it is unrestricted by software patents and is designed to provide for efficient streaming and manipulation of high quality digital multimedia.The Ogg container format can multiplex...

, and AAC
Advanced Audio Coding
Advanced Audio Coding is a standardized, lossy compression and encoding scheme for digital audio. Designed to be the successor of the MP3 format, AAC generally achieves better sound quality than MP3 at similar bit rates....

, as well as transcoding. It can stream to both software and hardware receivers, including the various Squeezebox models, as well as any media player capable of playing MP3 streams. Plugins from Logitech and third-party source
Third-party source
A third-party source is independent of the first party and second party in a transaction, interview, or written description . A first-party source comes directly from the first party...

s are also supported, allowing additional functionality to be added, and there is integration with Logitech's mysqueezebox.com online service.

Logitech Media Server is open source software
Open source
The term open source describes practices in production and development that promote access to the end product's source materials. Some consider open source a philosophy, others consider it a pragmatic methodology...

, released under the terms of the GNU General Public License
GNU General Public License
The GNU General Public License is the most widely used free software license, originally written by Richard Stallman for the GNU Project....

.

Hardware

Logitech's own Squeezebox hardware players exist in a variety of configurations, offering wired and wireless Ethernet
Ethernet
Ethernet is a family of computer networking technologies for local area networks commercially introduced in 1980. Standardized in IEEE 802.3, Ethernet has largely replaced competing wired LAN technologies....

, analog
Analog signal
An analog or analogue signal is any continuous signal for which the time varying feature of the signal is a representation of some other time varying quantity, i.e., analogous to another time varying signal. It differs from a digital signal in terms of small fluctuations in the signal which are...

 and digital audio
Digital audio
Digital audio is sound reproduction using pulse-code modulation and digital signals. Digital audio systems include analog-to-digital conversion , digital-to-analog conversion , digital storage, processing and transmission components...

 outputs, touchscreen
Touchscreen
A touchscreen is an electronic visual display that can detect the presence and location of a touch within the display area. The term generally refers to touching the display of the device with a finger or hand. Touchscreens can also sense other passive objects, such as a stylus...

 interfaces and a variety of remote controlled options.

Logitech Media Server also works with networked music players, such as the Roku
Roku
Roku , is an American, privately held, consumer electronics company that sells home digital media products. The Company is based in Saratoga, California.- Company profile and products :...

 SoundBridge
SoundBridge
SoundBridge is a remote hardware device from Roku designed to play internet radio or digital audio streamed to it across a home network, either WiFi or Ethernet. SoundBridge devices directly browse the Radio Roku Internet Radio Guide....

 M1001, although Logitech does not officially support these competing products. Chumby
Chumby
The Chumby is a consumer electronics product made by Chumby Industries, Inc.. It is an embedded computer which provides Internet and LAN access via a Wi-Fi connection. Through this connection, the Chumby runs various software widgets....

 devices also support streaming music from a Logitech Media Server, as does the Rio Receiver
Rio Receiver
The Rio Receiver was a home stereo device for playing MP3 files stored on your computer's hard drive over an Ethernet or HomePNA network. It was later rebranded and sold as the Dell Digital Audio Receiver....

 when running replacement software (slimrio) to emulate the SliMP3 device, although it is limited to modest bitrates (<128kps).

Recently the O2 Joggler
O2 Joggler
The O2 Joggler is a computing appliance which was sold by O2 in the United Kingdom. Manufactured by OpenPeak and based on their OpenFrame 7 product, the Joggler's main selling point was its shared calendar application and was aimed at organising family life...

 has proven a popular device for running Logitech's open source SqueezePlay software, providing a similar interface to the Squeezebox Touch on a 7" display.

Software

SqueezePlay is based on SqueezeOS, the operating system that drives the hardware devices Squeezebox Duet, Radio and Touch. Written in Lua, it is also open source software
Open source
The term open source describes practices in production and development that promote access to the end product's source materials. Some consider open source a philosophy, others consider it a pragmatic methodology...

 and sees regular updates through Logitech's SVN releases. There is also a free software emulator
Emulator
In computing, an emulator is hardware or software or both that duplicates the functions of a first computer system in a different second computer system, so that the behavior of the second system closely resembles the behavior of the first system...

 version of the Squeezebox, called Softsqueeze, which is written in Java
Java (programming language)
Java is a programming language originally developed by James Gosling at Sun Microsystems and released in 1995 as a core component of Sun Microsystems' Java platform. The language derives much of its syntax from C and C++ but has a simpler object model and fewer low-level facilities...

 and can be run easily as an applet
Java applet
A Java applet is an applet delivered to users in the form of Java bytecode. Java applets can run in a Web browser using a Java Virtual Machine , or in Sun's AppletViewer, a stand-alone tool for testing applets...

 inside a web page. A third player, SqueezeSlave, is also available, which operates similarly but without any display. SqueezeSlave is designed to be run on a server connected to an amplifier/speakers, and can be controlled through the standard Logitech Media Server web interface. At this time, SqueezeSlave is incompatible with Logitech's Spotify
Spotify
Spotify is a Swedish-founded, UK-headquartered DRM-based music streaming service offering streaming of selected music from a range of major and independent record labels, including Sony, EMI, Warner Music Group, and Universal. Launched in October 2008 by Swedish startup Spotify AB, the service had...

 plugin due to a lack of support for 'direct streaming'.

Other popular software players capable of playing music from Logitech Media Server include, among others, Apple's iTunes
ITunes
iTunes is a media player computer program, used for playing, downloading, and organizing digital music and video files on desktop computers. It can also manage contents on iPod, iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad....

.

Server Hardware and Plugins

The Logitech Media Server software is written in Perl
Perl
Perl is a high-level, general-purpose, interpreted, dynamic programming language. Perl was originally developed by Larry Wall in 1987 as a general-purpose Unix scripting language to make report processing easier. Since then, it has undergone many changes and revisions and become widely popular...

, and will run on Linux
Linux
Linux is a Unix-like computer operating system assembled under the model of free and open source software development and distribution. The defining component of any Linux system is the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released October 5, 1991 by Linus Torvalds...

, Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...

, Apple Macintosh, BSD platforms.

Logitech Media Server itself can run on a number of NAS devices
Network-attached storage
Network-attached storage is file-level computer data storage connected to a computer network providing data access to heterogeneous clients. NAS not only operates as a file server, but is specialized for this task either by its hardware, software, or configuration of those elements...

, such as QNAP Turbo NAS, Synology
Synology
For information of Sinology, Chinese Studies, see here.Synology Inc , founded in April 2000, is a Taiwanese company that produces network attached storage appliances for the SOHO and SMB/SME...

 Disk Station, NETGEAR
Netgear
Netgear is a U.S. manufacturer of computer networking equipment and other computer hardware....

 ReadyNAS, Buffalo Linkstation
Buffalo network-attached storage series
The Buffalo network-attached storage series are network-attached storage devices.They can be modified into miniature general purpose Linux-based computers...

, Linksys NSLU2
NSLU2
The NSLU2 is a Network-attached storage device made by Linksys introduced in 2004 and discontinued in 2008. It makes USB Flash memory and hard disks accessible over a network using the SMB protocol...

, THECUS
Thecus
Thecus Technology Corporation is a Taiwanese multinational corporation that designs and markets Network-Attached Storage , Direct-attached storage , and Network Video Recorders...

 N5200 & N7700, Xtreamer eTRAYz
Xtreamer
Xtreamer is a brand of home digital media player and HTPC products manufactured by the South Korean company Unicorn Information Systems. The product line's goal is to replace traditional video players in homes with more versatile, but still affordable, players...

 and any device running FreeNAS
FreeNAS
FreeNAS is a free network-attached storage server, supporting: CIFS , FTP, NFS, rsync, AFP protocols, iSCSI, S.M.A.R.T., local user authentication, and software RAID , with a web-based configuration interface. FreeNAS takes less than 64 MB once installed on CompactFlash, hard drive or USB flash...

 software. Logitech Media Server also comes pre-installed on the VortexBox Linux distribution and VortexBox appliance. This generally results in lower energy consumption than running Logitech Media Server on a personal computer
Personal computer
A personal computer is any general-purpose computer whose size, capabilities, and original sales price make it useful for individuals, and which is intended to be operated directly by an end-user with no intervening computer operator...

, whilst offering the same feature set (albeit with a slightly less responsive web interface under certain circumstances). Some NAS devices may require more effort than others to get Logitech Media Server running, though. Logitech only supports the Netgear ReadyNAS NAS devices.

More information on NAS-based Logitech solutions can be found in the Logitech Squeezebox forum for third-party hardware.

Plugins

There are numerous plug-ins and device driver
Device driver
In computing, a device driver or software driver is a computer program allowing higher-level computer programs to interact with a hardware device....

s available for Logitech Media Server, which include features such as support for automation systems from AMX LLC and Crestron Electronics
Crestron Electronics
Crestron Electronics is a company that manufactures systems for home automation and audio/video control. The hardware developed by Crestron includes programmable controllers including touch panels, keypads, and lighting control systems...

. Plugins also provide access to additional services, such as the live radio and 'listen-again' features of BBC iPlayer
BBC iPlayer
BBC iPlayer, commonly shortened to iPlayer, is an internet television and radio service, developed by the BBC to extend its former RealPlayer-based and other streamed video clip content to include whole TV shows....

 in the UK.

See also

  • AirTunes
  • Firefly Media Server
    Firefly Media Server
    Firefly Media Server is an open-source media server for the Roku SoundBridge and iTunes. It serves media files using Roku Server Protocol and Digital Audio Access Protocol .-Features:Its features include:...

  • Squeezebox
  • Windows Media Connect
    Windows Media Connect
    Windows Media Connect is a UPnP AV server from Microsoft for Windows XP and later Windows operating systems, to share and stream media on a Windows computer to WMC clients. The first two releases of WMC were made available as stand-alone software, and included a client as well...


External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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