Method and apparatus for providing efficient transmission of streaming video through a complex ip network

A media server for facilitating the streaming of media on an IP network, the media server comprising:

• a processing unit configured to control operations associated with streaming media, the operations including,
• receiving, at the media server, a request for a first media item from a first remote client in a first remote subnet of the IP network;
• determining a total number of clients of the first remote subnet that are requesting the first media item from the media server;
• generating a comparison result based on the determined number and a threshold value;
• and
• if the generated comparison result indicates that the determined number is greater than the threshold value,
• sending a signal from the media server to initiate a first relay server in the first subnet, and
• sending a signal from the media server instructing the first remote client to obtain the first media item from the first relay server.