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This section explains how VAIO Media is used to enjoy listening to music, viewing photos, watching recorded video and Live Television on your computer.
Introduction
VAIO Media is a home networking application that allows you to enjoy media stored on other computers across your network. The computer containing this media is called a server. The computer using VAIO Media to access content from that server is called a client. The configuration of the server and clients in a network environment is illustrated below.
 Hint Even with only one computer (the computer acts as server and client), you can still enjoy your favorite media.
The media content that you can enjoy with VAIO Media is stored on the server. There are various ways to store the content but that depends on the type of media (music, photo, video).
VAIO Media has included a file that allows you to install the application on client computers on your network. This file is called the VAIO Media Installer. Once installed to clients computers on your network, you can begin streaming content from the server on your network.
Building a Network
To access media on your computer from another computer, it is necessary to build a network.
In a wired LAN configuration, the clients and server are connected to a switching hub through Ethernet cables.
In a wireless LAN configuration, the clients and server are connected with the wireless access point through wireless connections. However, you may still connect some computers to the wireless access point with Ethernet cables, if desired.
As an added layer of security, VAIO Media allows you to protect the computers on your network by registering the clients to the servers. This gives you the ability to determine which machines on your network will have access to the VAIO Media content on your clients and server. Registering clients on the server also prevents the unauthorized distribution of media on the server.
There are two types of registration: manual (i.e. you must register each client manually, which includes operations on the client and on the server) and automatic (i.e. clients that are connected to the server are automatically registered).
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Protecting the media files stored on the server
If your server is connected directly to the Internet (not through a router) or you are connected to an intranet (such as in a condominium) that can readily be accessed by third parties, clients could be registered automatically to the server without your knowledge, allowing them access to your media files. You should normally register clients manually to ensure that only specific devices can enjoy the media files on your server.
Note also that if you change the VAIO Media Console registration method from automatic to manual, all clients that were registered automatically will no longer be able to access the server until registered manually.
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To register clients manually, proceed to step 1. To register clients automatically, proceed to step 5.
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On the client computer click Start, point to All Programs, VAIO Media, and then click VAIO Media. |
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The VAIO Media main menu appears.
You must log on to the client with administrator access privileges to perform this procedure.
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Point to the left edge of the window, and then click Setting on the menu that appears.
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The display changes as follows.
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Click Register Device. |
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The VAIO Media Registration screen appears.
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Click Start. |
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On the server computer click Start, point to All Programs, VAIO Media, Server Administration, and then click Console. |
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The VAIO Media Console dialog box appears.
You must log on to the server as a user with administrator access privileges to perform this procedure.
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On the "Access Control Settings" tab, select the "Access this computer from other devices connected to the network" check box. |
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Under Access Control Settings, select one of the following. |
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- When registering clients manually, select "Restrict access to this computer to manually-registered devices" and proceed to step 8.
- When registering clients that access the server automatically, select "Allow all connectable devices to access this computer", which concludes the setting procedure. Click Close.
Hint Regardless of the option selected above, you can only register up to 20 clients per server.
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Click Register. |
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The device registration wizard starts.
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Specify the registration method. |
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Select one of the following.
- Normally, you should select the "Automatically register devices when connected to the network" option. Selecting this option, and then selecting the "Use the confirmation number to register your device" check box ensures the most secure registration possible.
- You can register clients by using the MAC address of their network interface. If you choose to do so, select the "Manually register the device by entering the MAC address" option. Use this registration method when you cannot use the method above.
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Click Next and follow the instructions on the screen to complete the client registration. |
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You must verify the screens of both the client and the server. |
Hints
- If a client computer is equipped with multiple network interfaces (for example, a computer equipped with Ethernet and a wireless LAN) deactivate all network interfaces except the one that you want to use before registering the client. If there are several active network interfaces when you register the client, registration fails. If you plan to use VAIO Media through several interfaces, you must register the client through each network interface separately.
- When the client network interface changes, it is necessary to register the client again.
 When using a firewall functionVAIO Media may not operate correctly on computers running the firewall function on Windows XP or using commercial firewall software. To use VAIO Media with these computers, you must set them to allow client-server connections.
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