Overview

Goals

This article will give you an overview of how to integrate StriveCast eCDN into your Google Workspace environment for usage with Google Meet Livestreaming and how you can verify your integration.

Requirements

  • Access to the StriveCast web portal

  • Access to your Google Admin Workspace Console

Who should use this document?

Developers, responsible for integrating the StriveCast eCDN Solution into their organization’s Google Workspace.

The integration process

Step

Description

Step 1 - Prepare an Integration

Create a configuration for your Google Meet plugin, you need to create an Integraion Deployment in the StriveCast web portal.

Step 2 - Integrate the Google Meet Plugin

Integrate the Deployment via Google Admin Workspace Console or a Group Policy Update.

Step 3 - Verify your integration

Use StriveCast’s debug mode and the web portal to verify the integration works correctly.

Step 1 - Create an Integration Deployment

To get the Google Meet plugin configuration, you need to create a Deployment in the StriveCast web portal. A Deployment is a cloud object which contains two things:

  1. A set of configurations

  2. A generated JSON string referencing to a Javascript file containing the StriveCast eCDN

While the JSON string will be integrated statically into your “StriveCast eCDN” Browser Plugin, the cloud-based configuration of your Deployment will govern the way the integration works. Think of it as a way to remote-control the integrated snippet without the need to update your actual source code again.

When creating your Deployment, please make sure to:

  • Select “Google meet” as integration type

  • Set your Deployment’s status to “Online”

  • Enable the P2P module in the “P2P” tab of your Deployment

  • Enable the “Debug Mode” for further evaluation of your integration

  • Set the “Matching Policy” to “No Restrictions”

Please note: The settings above should only be used during testing. They are not designed for use in production.

After you created a Deployment, the generated JSON configuration string will be made available to you in the StriveCast web portal:

Step 2 - Integrate “eCDN for Google Meet by StriveCast”

The StriveCast eCDN support for Google Meet is realized by installing a browser extension from the Chrome Web Store. The browser extension needs to be configured with a specific JSON string and distributed among the clients. As this can be achieved with several methods, all options are described in the separate documentation Configuring the eCDN for Google Meet by StriveCast Plugin.

The eCDN for Google Meet by StriveCast needs to be integrated once. Future updates will not require the adaption of the code. The snippet includes two parts custom to your Deployment:

  • Account ID

  • Deployment ID

In the StriveCast web portal, your snippet will be pre-rendered for each created Deployment. The snippet is of the following form:

{ "DeploymentScriptURL": {"Value": "https://cdn.strivetech.io/services/storage/v0/entity-resource/<ACCOUNT-ID>/<DEPLOYMENT-ID>/gwc.min.js"}}
JSON

In order to get your Account ID and Deployment ID, please head to the Integration section of the StriveCast Web Portal and click on the specific Deployment you would like to implement.

Step 3 - Verify your integration

This step assumes you have configured your Deployment as described in Step 1. If not, please make sure to:

  • Set your Deployment’s status to “Online”

  • Enable the P2P module in the “P2P” tab of your Deployment

  • Enable the “Debug Mode” for further evaluation of your integration

  • Set the “Matching Policy” to “No Restrictions” for further evaluation of your integration

You can now create a Google Meet Live Stream and join as a viewer. The following window should appear on your screen:

Each loaded video segment is represented by a single bar in the chart. The bar’s color indicates whether or not it had been delivered via P2P or via your video infrastructure. By opening multiple browser tabs or multiple browsers with the same URL, you can simulate multiple users and start the P2P mechanism. You should see the following behavior in the debug window:

  1. The first tab is open. Black bars start filling the chart (one user, no P2P).

  2. The second tab is open. One of the tabs starts showing blue bars instead of black bars (the second user joins and receives content via P2P).

  3. Switching bar colors. You might experience bars to turn black and blue from time to time. You should see the same color pattern in reverse in the other browser tab. This means that StriveCast decides which user should be the P2P sender and receiver. This decision is made on a per-segment basis. Seeing the color switch between one another is expected behavior and shows that both peers have excellent connectivity.

  4. Orange bar colors. You might experience bars appearing in orange color. What this means is that the video segment was expected to be delivered by P2P but did not arrive in time and was thus fetched via your video infrastructure. This fallback mechanism activates in case of bad connectivity between peers and indicates that the P2P connection between two users is not strong enough to support video delivery. In this case, please verify that regardless of the orange bars, the video is still running smoothly.

Frequently asked questions

  • The Debug Window is not displayed.
    Please make sure to enable the Debug mode in the deployment configuration.

  • Do I need to update the code when a new version is being released?
    No. The new versions are being automatically loaded once you set them in the Self-Service Portal.

  • What other integrations do you provide?
    StriveCast offers out-of-the-box integration with most enterprise video platforms. For a full list, please visit this page: Supported Video Platforms

Contact us

For any further questions or problems, please open a ticket at the StriveCast Help Center.