- What is OSTN?
OSTN is the only 24/7 television channel dedicated to student produced content. OSTN is a multicast 24/7 TV channel delivered over Internet2, National LambdaRail, US State RENs, GEANT2, and many of the RENs around the world.
- Is there a fee associated with joining OSTN?
There is no cost for universities to join the Open Student Television Network (http://watch.ostn.tv).
- Is there a fee associated with providing OSTN to my campus?
There is no cost for universities to provide the Open Student Television Network (http://watch.ostn.tv) to your campus.
- Do members need to submit content to receive the channel?
Members do not have to submit content to receive the channel.
- What sort of content does OSTN air?
OSTN airs student-produced programming from around the globe.
OSTN Channel programming includes:
- Short Films
- Feature Films
- Documentaries
- Experimental Film
- Anime
- Music Videos
- Digital Animation
- Sitcoms
- Game Shows
- Soap Operas
- Dating Games
- Reality Shows
- News Magazine Shows
- News Shows
- Who is providing support for OSTN?
OSTN is an initiative fully funded by the CampusEAI Consortium (http://www.campuseai.org), a non-profit organization.
- Where is OSTN located?
OSTN is headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio.
- Where are OSTN members located?
OSTN members hail from four continents.
- Does OSTN accept submissions for new content?
If you have ideas for new channels or co-productions, please contact Maria Shuckahosee, Program Manager, at maria_shuckahosee@ostn.tv.
- How does an institution submit content?
Institutions and students can submit content through the Digital Depository by uploading online or by sending in DVDs.
- Can the OSTN channel be put onto a legacy cable TV channel?
The OSTN channel can be converted to a legacy channel via a simple set top box converter.
- How can the OSTN channel be delivered to an audience?
The OSTN player can sit on a university's portal, on a specific webpage, or can be converted onto one of the school's legacy channels.
- Is there any hardware required to deliver the OSTN channel to my campus?
The OSTN channel is remotely hosted so there is no hardware required.
- Who decides what is shown on OSTN?
OSTN programming is governed by a student steering committee and an executive committee of higher education notables.
- What systems does OSTN play on?
OSTN plays on Windows, Macintosh, and LINUX systems.
Technical and Engineering Frequently Asked Questions
- How is the OSTN stream delivered to my campus?
The OSTN stream is delivered to universities around the country and around the world via the Internet2 advanced data network, which provides 10 gigabits of bandwidth on its backbone, known as Abilene. Your individual school may have less than the full 10 gigabit bandwidth depending on your institution’s individual setup. The OSTN stream is a 2.5 megabit multicast stream delivered to schools from OSTN’s central distribution facility in Cleveland, Ohio. From our facility in Cleveland, the OSTN stream is transmitted onto Abilene and distributed across the United States and around the world via various academic networks.
- Does my campus need to be multicast enabled to receive OSTN?
YES. Your campus must allow multicast streams from Internet2 onto their campus network in order to receive the stream. There is no unicast alternative at this time. Your campus’ connection to Internet2 must be at least 5 megabits per second, multicast enabled.
- What ports and addresses need to be opened to my campus network to receive OSTN?
There are several multicast and unicast ports and addresses that will need to be open from your edge network to the client PC.
The multicast streams will arrive on a range of GLOP addresses, 233.127.154.20-31. You will need to allow the following ports on these multicast addresses:
80 tcp (http launch portal)
4900 udp (multicast UDP IP video streams)
4901 udp (multicast OnGuide data stream)
4902 udp (unicast communication w/license server – bi-directional)
OSTN On Demand Services operate on the following ports, from addresses 192.5.109.71 and 192.5.109.74. You will need to open these ports from those addresses:
80 tcp (http portal)
4902 udp (unicast communication w/license server – bi-directional)
4903 tcp (vfam server)
4904 tcp (mserver control, InStream)
4905 tcp (mserver data, InStream)
Please note that all ports only need to be opened inbound to the client, with the exception of 4902 UDP which is inbound and outbound for both streamed and VOD content.
Should you request an OSTN set top box for the output of OSTN onto a traditional cable TV system, you will also need to ensure that UDP multicast traffic is allowed on 233.127.154.31 port 5353.
- Does my campus need to be multicast enabled everywhere?
Not necessarily. If you are deploying OSTN as an IPTV service to the desktop, you will need to enable multicast from the 233.127.154.20-31 range on all subnets that you wish to receive the signal from, in addition to the edge router. If you are deploying OSTN as a CATV channel, you will only need to allow multicast to the port that the set top box converter is attached to.
- How much bandwidth on my network will be taken up by OSTN?
Due to OSTN’s use of multicast technology, the impact to your network is very minimal. Instead of each client computer requiring their own 2.5 megabit stream to the OSTN streaming server, one 2.5 megabit stream is shared on your network between all clients. This is one of the primary reasons to use multicast technology – reduction of bandwidth utilization on the client network.
- Will your multicast flood my network clients with unwanted multicast traffic?
NO. Through the use of Protocol Independent Multicast – Sparse Mode (PIM-SM), our multicast stream will only be delivered to network segments and clients who request the feed – traffic will not be delivered to clients not wanting to receive the channel. In this way, overall impact to your network is very minimal, and clients that are not watching the OSTN channels will not be negatively impacted by the multicast signal.
