Fast Reconnect

Windows Media Services includes Fast Reconnect, which minimizes the impact to each client during a temporary network outage by enabling the client to reconnect to the server automatically and restart streaming. If the client was connected to an on-demand publishing point, the client restarts playback at the point at which the connection was lost by synchronizing itself with the content timeline. If the content includes video, the client estimates the approximate video frame at which the connection was lost. If the content is indexed, this estimate is more accurate. If the client is connected to a broadcast publishing point, the client reconnects to the broadcast in progress. Depending on the content, the user may experience a gap in the broadcast.

Note

Fast Reconnect can be used by clients that connect through any of the default connection protocols (MMS, HTTP, and RTSP) to a unicast stream. A successful reconnection is reflected in the log file with a status code of 210.

Note

You can control the behavior of individual streams by adding Fast Streaming URL modifiers to the URL that a client uses to connect to the stream. For example, you can use the WMReconnect URL modifier to specify the number of times a client can try to reconnect to a stream if a connection is lost. For more information, see Controlling Fast Streaming behavior with URL modifiers.