Implementation of embedded streaming of large video application using object-relational database and PHP

Abstract

There has been much interest in databases that store multimedia data, which comprise static media, like text and images, and dynamic or continuous media, like audio and video. Conventional database systems are designed for managing textual and numerical data. Storing and retrieving such data is often based on simple comparisons of text or numerical values. However, this method of storing and retrieval is not adequate for the multimedia data, since the digitized representation of these data types does not convey the reality of these media items. The conventional method is to store the large multimedia data in a file server and store the associated metadata in a database. The retrieval is done by downloading the files from one computer to the user's computer before playing it. The large size of these files results in long download times. The paper proposes an alternative method of storing multimedia data along with its associated metadata in an object-relational database. The proposed method offers faster retrieval time, secured backup, and concurrent login. The paper shows how database systems can be architected to support multimedia data, making use of an object-relational database system such as PostgreSQL. The main challenge is delivering data over the Web using real time video streaming. The results show that there is a significant change in retrieval rate and Web access time when data is stored in a single database instead of a file server. The application of a multimedia database thus created can be used in different application domains such as digital libraries, training and education, medical databases containing X-rays, etc.