What exactly does RMS do/provide for Dolphin?

I am new to Dolphin and trying to figure out what hosting company to use and this RMS thing keeps coming up.  What is RMS specifically and what does it do for Dolphin?  Is is necessary to run Dolphin?  Thanks

A RMS server is needed for any parts of Dolphins RAY media modules that need streaming or live time abilities.


RMS is not required if you do not need any of the features that require it. The following requires the media server.


Webcam support in the chat rooms. The chat rooms will function without webcam support if no RMS is available.

The whiteboard.

The Instant Messenger.

The profile video recorder.

If you do not need any of those functions, then you do not need RMS.

Thanks Deano, any suggestions on hosting companies to go with?

I am with Terabyte-hosting.com

They provide RMS and i have had no problems. I have not tried any of the other hosting providers listed here so i cannot be of much help.

Ask around, do some research rather than go with the lowest price you can find. If you go cheep, that is what you will get.