Optibase Announces Availability of First Generation Streaming Media Gateway

Optibase (www.optibase.com), announced the general availability of the MGW 2000, the first rollout of Optibase's new line of streaming media server solutions for the enterprise and broadband Internet markets.

According to Optibase, the availability of the MGW 2000 follows a successful Beta program where the MGW 2000 was evaluated by more than a dozen leading network equipment vendors, telecom operators, DSL vendors and network operators.

Optibase describes the MGW 2000 as a plug-and-play, multi-channel streaming server with an embedded operating system that is capable of encoding and transmitting 16 live and pre-recorded streams simultaneously, including up to six in real time.

The MGW 2000 is packaged in a 17" rack-mounted, modular platform with several network interfaces, and field upgradeable slots capable of hosting a mix of new modules - which currently include MPEG-1, MPEG-2 and MP3 streaming from 32 Kbit/s to 10Mbit/s. Obtibase states that the encoding modules are field swappable and upgradable.

The MGW 2000 can be connected to an external storage device for on-demand services with a SCSI interface, and an Ethernet port provides connectivity to the Web for remote management.

"The MGW 2000 serves as an instrumental part of the infrastructure, enabling service providers to offer value-added media services. Because we've engineered this device to be very extensible, we'll be able to release the MPEG-4 and Microsoft's Windows Media Technologies product for Beta testing during Q1 of 2001. The third rollout of the Media Gateway family, a carrier class solution, will follow in mid- 2001 and enable the support of multiple streams, MPEG-2 over DVB to IP conversion and transcoding -- all in a carrier class packaging,'' ' says Yaniv Garty, vice-president of marketing and business development at Optibase.