Design and implementation of VoD server by using clustered file system

We introduce the CROWN (Clustering Resources on Workstation Network) system that consists of several PCs interconnected with the Myrinet. In order to provide multimedia-on-demand services, especially VoD, we have developed CrownFS as a continuous media file system over the Linux operating system. CrownFS is a user level file system. Because the clustering technology is based on off-the-shelf commodities, user-level design and implementation can be natural in a clustering system and has a great benefit in portability. The architecture of CrownFS and its usage for VoD service are presented. Field test results show that a prototype CrownFS VoD server with four nodes can provide 150 MPEG-1 streams concurrently. CrownFS can also be extended to support a discrete media file system and to provide over a thousand multimedia streams