This page will attempt to explain the concept of a stream server so you can better understand what you are purchasing and how to operate it.

Livestreaming without a server

Suppose you're streaming to Twitch, it can be any streaming device including a smartphone, a LiveU or a laptop.
Conceptually it'd look something like this.

Your device connects to Twitch's server which then goes live on your Twitch channel and can be watched by all your viewers.

But maybe your data connection is bad and you frequently lose connection to Twitch causing your channel to go offline and online, over and over. This is less than ideal.

Livestreaming with a server

An IRLToolkit server sits between your streaming device and Twitch.

Instead of sending your stream directly to Twitch, you'd instead send it to an IRLToolkit server.
The IRLToolkit server is then responsible for forwarding that to your Twitch channel.

As a result the IRLToolkit server is functionally a middleman ensuring that your Twitch channel stays online no matter how bad the connection is from your streaming location.

The above situations apply to all supported streaming devices and all supported streaming destinations, not exclusively the mentioned devices or Twitch.

When you are using an IRLToolkit server, there will be some things you should keep in mind:

• "Turning on my stream" is no longer just pushing Go Live on your phone. There is now a distinction between starting the stream on the phone and starting the stream on your server.
  • Going live on your streaming device is sending a livestream feed to an IRLtoolkit server input (ingest). This alone will not start your stream on Twitch (or any other supported platform).
  • It isn't until you push the Start button on your IRLToolkit server that it will start the actual livestream to your configured platform and viewers can tune in.