What is Video Serving?
Video serving refers to the process of delivering a stream of moving images and sound over a network to a display device. The crucial difference between video delivered from a server or 'streamed' versus a video file that is downloaded and played is that the stream does not reside on the user's computer. It is not captured at any time, save for the amount required to fill a buffer on the user's computer sufficient to allow uninterrupted playback. Similar in nature to the interactive controls on a VCR, the video stream may be paused, fast-forwarded or rewound and replayed. It may be played once or set to loop a number of times or indefinitely.

Video serving may consist of a live stream, captured from the camera, encoded and sent out over the Internet or it may be pre-existing content, encoded and stored on a server for delivery to the user at the user's convenience. Longer video segments may be trimmed to the exact portions needed by creating virtual clips that show only the portion required.

The constraints on video serving are disk space required to hold the content, bandwidth required for delivery and bandwidth to the user's location.

What is Video Conferencing?
Video conferencing is the use of digital technologies to connect two or more users with real time, two way (full duplex) video and audio capability. In addition, users now expect to be able to share applications, edit files, simultaneously collaborate via shared whiteboards and connect more than two parties.

Video conferencing is used in many arenas, health care, business and education. While quality was limited in the past by balky equipment and low bandwidth connections, these obstructions are disappearing, making the adoption of this communication channel more widespread.

Multiple video conference connections are dependant on a relatively expensive piece of hardware known as a Multipoint Control Unit or MCU, however there are some public MCUs available for free use. By daisy chaining MCUs together, each of which can support 9 or more users, large conferences can be enabled.