Flash Media Server 3 Ships Today

Adobe announced the Flash Media Server 3 family of products back in December last year, and today the products are actually shipping! I think the FMS product team did a great job with this release, not only in terms of adding features and improving performance, but also in listening to customer feedback and revising the pricing & licensing for the product.

So now we have three different editions for FMS:

• Flash Media Interactive Server 3 (FMIS) - list price $4500US
• Flash Media Streaming Server 3 (FMSS) - list price $995US
• Flash Media Development Server 3 (FMDS) - free!

Flash Media Interactive Server
This is the full-featured server that can be deployed as a pro server (a la FMS2) or in an origin/edge architecture, so a lot of flexibility in terms of deployment. If you're looking to build social media applications that require 2-way communication between the end user and the server (e.g. capturing a webcam stream, video blogging, collaboration apps, etc.), or you need an industrial-strength, scalable solution, this is the edition for you.

Flash Media Streaming Server
FMSS is an economical option for those customers who want to upgrade from progressive download and simply start streaming their video content. FMSS ships with applications for live broadcasts and on-demand playback that allow you to start streaming content out of the box. At this price point, you still benefit from features like improved performance, H.264/HE-AAC support, encrypted streaming, bandwidth detection, reporting and enhanced seeking.

Flash Media Development Server - Free!
FMDS is identical to the full blown FMIS, so you can build any type of streaming or social media applications without paying for the server technology upfront. Once you build the proof of concept for the 'next big thing' but it limits you to 10 concurrent connections. Pretty good value for a free download!

Not sure which edition is right for you? Try this comparison table at Adobe.com.