Now that we are talking about downloading, this is a good time to discuss Progressive Downloading verse True Streaming. These are the two common ways to deliver video over a network. Both are actually called "streaming," however, if the video is being broadcast live or if a specialized media server or protocol is used (such as RTSP), it generally is "true streaming". If a HTTP server is used, the video will be delivered by progressive download.

Lets look at progressive downloading first.