Macromedia, Inc., yesterday announced the availability of Macromedia Flash Media Server 2, a server software, that offers a combination of traditional streaming media capabilities and a flexible development environment for creating and delivering innovative, interactive media applications.

Macromedia says that by using Flash Media Server 2 and the Flash Platform, publishers can now integrate video into their websites and applications with complete control over playback, interactivity, and branding. The server software is the foundation for delivering both recorded and live Flash video in deployments such as video on demand, live web broadcasts, MP3 streaming, video blogging and video/audio chat applications, claims the company. It also introduces new scalable Edge-Origin servers, an optional enterprise-ready architecture that simplifies load balancing, failover and clustering, to ensure greater reliability and scalability of streaming rich interactive experiences even during peak traffic times. According to the company, the software features custom interactivity, user authentication, and bandwidth detection.

Flash Media Server operates across standard Windows or Linux servers and integrates with existing databases, as well as web and data services. Expanded extensibility functionality enables customers to manage XML-based media meta-data, access local system resources, and control logging and reporting for tighter integration with existing media ingest and management systems. It is available at prices starting at $4,500 for a two-CPU configuration Professional Edition license.

"With the Flash Platform, users can finally view high-quality, interactive video online as a truly seamless, instant-on web video experience," said Tom Hale, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Macromedia. "The new version of Flash Media Server 2 will now provide organizations with the most powerful way to deliver web video and rich media applications to the widest possible audience on the Internet."