Keep connection alive for streaming in ASP.NET Core - asp.net-core

Question

I'm making a small web application which is built on ASP.NET Core. My application is for streaming video from clients to clients through service.
I've followed this post :
http://www.strathweb.com/2013/01/asynchronously-streaming-video-with-asp-net-web-api/
I've implemented the application of tutorial successfully, but, that was for streaming Video from server to clients.
What I wanna do now is :
Clients register to service for streaming. (using video or audio tag)
Service receives client submitted data (submit through POSTMAN)
Service broadcast the data to its every registered clients.
Here is what I've implemented:
(Index.cshtml)
<div>
<video width="480"
height="320"
controls="controls"
autoplay="autoplay">
<source src="/api/video/initiate"
type="video/mp4">
</source>
</video>
</div>
StreamingService
public class StreamingService: IStreamingService
{
public IList<Stream> Connections {get;set;}
public StreamingService()
{
Connections = new List<Stream>();
}
public byte[] AnalyzeStream(Stream stream)
{
long originalPosititon = 0;
if (stream.CanSeek)
{
originalPosititon = stream.Position;
stream.Position = 0;
}
try
{
var readBuffer = new byte[4096];
int bytesReader;
while ((byteRead = stream.Read(readBuffer, totalBytesRead, readBuffer.Length - totalBytesRead)) > 0)
{
totalBytesRead += byteRead;
if (totalBytesRead == readBuffer.Length)
{
var nextByte = stream.ReadByte();
if (nextByte != -1)
{
var temp = new byte[readBuffer * 2];
Buffer.BlockCopy(readBuffer, 0, temp, 0, readBuffer.Length);
Buffer.SetByte(temp, totalBytesRead, (byte)nextByte);
readBuffer = temp;
totalBytesRead++;
}
}
}
var buffer = readBuffer;
if (readBuffer.Length != totalBytesRead)
{
buffer = new byte[totalBytesRead];
Buffer.BlockCopy(readBuffer, 0, buffer, 0, totalBytesRead);
}
return buffer;
}
finally
{
if (stream.CanSeek)
stream.Position = originalPosititon;
}
}
}
VideoController
public class VideoController: Controller
{
private readonly IStreamingService _streamingService;
private readonly IHostingEnvironment _hostingEnvironment;
public VideoController(IStreamingService streamingService, IHostingEnvironment hostingEnvironment)
{
_streamingService = streamingService;
_hostingEnvironment = hostingEnvironment;
}
[HttpGet("initiate")]
public IActionResult Initiate()
{
_streamingService.Connections.Add(Response.Body);
}
[HttpPost("broadcast")]
public async Task<IActionResult> Broadcast()
{
// Retrieve data submitted from POSTMAN.
var data = _streamingService.AnalyzeStream(Request.Body);
foreach (var stream in _streamingService.Connections)
{
try
{
await stream.WriteAsync(data, 0, data.Length);
}
catch (Exception exception)
{
stream.Dispose();
_streamingService.Connections.Remove(stream);
}
}
}
}
When I send data from POSTMAN through api/video/broadcast . For loop ran and I got an exception said the stream has been disposed.
My question is:
How can I keep the stream alive for streaming ?
(Stream created in api/video/initiate is kept alive and when a client calls api/video/broadcast , all initiated stream will update its date without having disposed)
Thank you,

Answer 1

Is it an option to keep the stream in cache?
You can read more about it here. The simplest way it to add the cache services to the dependency injection container and the request the concrete implementation of IMemoryCache through constructor injection in your VideoController (as you've done with IStreamingService and IHostingEnvironment).
Just add the stream to the cache and use the cached stream the next time api/video/broadcast is hit.
Be aware though that if you are on a webfarm or hosted in the cloud it is recommended to use Distributed Cache like Redis Cache, or else your cache could disapear unexpected. I use Azure Redis Cache for instance which works great!