Shared Hosting and .FLV

[Foxman]

Hello, I'm starting a new site that has lots of Flash Video that I will be loading externally via actionscript.

Does Steadfast plans support .FLV files or is the MIME type for .FLV files supported ( Video/x-flv)?

Thank you

[PE-Steve]

Why not just upload the .swf?

[Foxman]

Why not just upload the .swf?

That won't work in my case. I have to load the .FLV files that the .SWF's actionscript is pointing to. So the .FLV must be uploaded as well..

What I am finding, is that lots of hosting companies don't support .FLV!

I'm new to this...but I find this really hard to believe in the day and age of FLASH and Video.

[PE-Steve]

There's no need to upload a .flv file, are you sure it's required?

[Ray]

I've definitely seen .flv files, which are Flash video, that have been required. These are different than the .fla raw Flash files.

I don't believe the .flv extension is currently supported on a server-wide basis, but you can add custom MIME types to individual domains right inside the control panel.

To do so, just go to the domain's Web Options page, click the Add button on the MIME Types line, and add the following:

File Extension: .flv (you need to add the period)
MIME Type: video/x-flv

Click Submit, and then click Apply in the Server Configuration line to apply the changes.

[NickCatal]

What do you mean nobody supports .FLV files?

a .FLV file is just a container (like .avi) that comprises both Flash's Video Codec (a variant of H.263 or there is a new one) and a supported Audio Codec (I believe MP3 is one of the options)

Not many hosts offer Flash Media Server, mostly because it is a totally different product. But if all you need are the flatfile .FLV files, then any host should allow you to upload them. If you host allows you to upload .AVI files, there is no reason you should not be able to upload .FLV files.

And there is no reason you should need any metadata associated with the files. A flash player will load .HTML files if you call them up as flash files.

Remember, .FLV files, like any Video Files, are larger files. And they are not pulled by the server, they are pulled by the client. So when somebody downloads a 5 Megabyte .FLV file, they are literally downloading a 5MB file from your site, even if they aren't going to watch it) so be careful if you are hosting it on ANY shared solution and expect a TON of hits at a single moment. I tell people to just use Revver or Youtube and embed it. Just easier...

[Ray]

Web servers need to have the proper MIME type configured so that the browser can determine the proper way to display the content. .FLV is not setup by default in Apache or IIS, and most hosts do not configure this as a default MIME type.

With H-Sphere, the user can add MIME types on a site-by-site basis, and that is a very convenient feature for customers. Not all control panels and hosts allow this, however, so it is an important bit of information to check into when choosing a host.

Check out this link for a little bit of information regarding Flash/MIME types:

http://kb.adobe.com/selfservice/view...4151&sliceId=2

Not exactly specific to this question, but the information is relevent, nonetheless.