Video and Audio streaming
Streaming is a technique for transferring data such that it flows as a steady and continuous stream. Streaming technologies are becoming increasingly important with the growth of broadband Internet. With streaming, the client browser or plug-in can start displaying the data before the entire file has been transmitted.
For streaming to work, the computer receiving the data must be able to collect the data and send it as a steady stream to the application that is processing the data and converting it to sound or pictures. This means that if the streaming client receives the data more quickly than required, it needs to save the excess data in a buffer. Alternatively, if the data doesn't come quickly enough, however, the presentation of the data will not be smooth.