The main software components which are important are

• The streamingserver
• the streaming software to send out the stream

The streaming server is located in the Internet and is basically a passive receiver and sender of the stream. It's main function is to have a real IP address and to be accessible from everywhere. Here Icecast I and Icecast II are the main programs.

The streaming software is used to send the stream to the streaming server. Usually it also converts the audio signal in the computer to a streaming audio format, compresses this to the specific size and sends it in a stream (without any further buffer) to the streaming server.