The stream must do so in a timely fashion as well. Next, we need to have enough bandwidth to support our desired resolution and there are a variety of compression types with a number of requirement variables. What is important is in creating a network that scales for additional users. Each new user requires a sustainable bitrate to the desktop, and this bitrate must be consistent, otherwise the video or sound will be choppy, losing frames. In order to understand how a consistent video stream is delivered across a network, let's look at a typical enterprise network.
Most networks have one or more hubs in a local wiring closet where user workstations attach.
Since the entire network bandwidth is shared amongst all users, this may reduce the average bandwidth to 1Mbps or less per workstation. Note that this throughput will require at least a Gigabit Ethernet backbone to the network router. That's because each switch will require its own 100Mbps connection to the video server in order to maintain throughput. A Fast Ethernet-only network, on the other hand, is limited to eight simultaneous streams. With this type of system in place, a site could then upgrade each switch and workstation to Gigabit Ethernet to support HDTV feeds to the desktop as well.