About Watch Folders

Applies To: Windows 7, Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Vista

When files of specified media types are placed ("dropped") in a watch folder, IIS Transform Manager runs tasks on the media files. These tasks are defined in a job template that is bound to the watch folder. Watch folders can be local directories or shared network resources. Watch folders can also be FTP or WebDAV locations on a Web server to which you can upload files. You can configure a watch folder to watch for one media file type or media files in multiple formats and define specific tasks for those files. To manage computer resources, you can specify the number of jobs that can run simultaneously in a watch folder, or you can designate some watch folders as more important than others by assigning priority levels. If you assign priority levels, lower priority watch folders must wait for jobs to finish in higher priority watch folders before their jobs can start.

This section contains the following topics to help you manage and configure watch folders:

• About the Watch Folders Page

• Creating Watch Folder Impersonation Accounts

• Managing Watch Folder Task Schedulers

• Configuring Watch Folders

• Logging and Monitoring Watch Folder Events

About the Default Watch Folders

The default installation of Transform Manager contains the following watch folders to help you get started.

Watch folder name	Description	For more information
H.264 Smooth Streams to Apple HTTP Live Streams	Converts on-demand Smooth Streaming presentations to the Apple HTTP Live Streaming container format (MPEG-2 TS) for Apple mobile digital devices.	Transforming On-Demand Smooth Streams to Apple HTTP Live Streams
MP4 video files to H.264 Smooth Streams	Converts MP4 video files to on-demand Smooth Streams for Silverlight clients.	Using the MP4 to Smooth Task
MP4 video files to H.264 Smooth Streams with PlayReady Protection	Converts MP4 video files to on-demand Smooth Streams with PlayReady Protection for Silverlight clients.	Transforming MP4 Video Files to Encrypted Smooth Streams
PlayReady Protection	Encrypts on-demand Smooth Streams for Silverlight clients.	Encrypting On-Demand Smooth Streams
Video files to H.264 Smooth Streams and Apple HTTP Live Streams	Transcodes video files to H.264-formatted on-demand Smooth Streams for Silverlight clients and then converts copies of the transcoded files to MPEG-2 TS for Apple devices.	Transforming Media Files to Apple HTTP Live Streams
Video files to VC-1 Smooth Streams	Transcodes video files to VC-1-formatted on-demand Smooth Streams for Silverlight clients.	Transforming Media Files to On-Demand Smooth Streams