Launching a streaming service involves a variety of technical issues. From choosing a video hosting provider to creating your application and website, it’s an extensive process.
A CDN (Content Delivery Network), also known as a Content Delivery Network, is a group of geographically distributed and interconnected servers. They provide cached Internet content from the nearest network location to the user to speed up its delivery.
The primary goal of CDNs is to improve Web performance by reducing the amount of time it takes to deliver content and rich media to users.
The CDN architecture also aims to reduce network latency caused by transporting traffic over long distances and across multiple networks. As more dynamic content, video and software-as-a-service is delivered to more and more mobile devices, it is important to eliminate latency.
What is CDN Video Streaming?
CDN video streaming refers to the streaming of live or on-demand video content using a content delivery network (CDN).
A CDN is a geographically distributed network of servers designed to cache and deliver content over the Web. Each CDN streaming server caches text, images, audio clips, HTML files, CSS style sheets, and other elements of a Web page.
Whenever a user wants to access a Web page, the nearest edge server handles the request. It delivers the desired content from the cache instead of waiting for the source server to respond.
How does a video CDN work?
Video CDNs are specifically designed to facilitate fast and reliable video streaming. When a video file is streamed, it is broken down into smaller segments. The edge server caches these segments and delivers them to the user when the user submits a request.
The HTML video player on the end user’s device arranges the segments in the correct order before playing the video. For on-demand and live streaming, the mechanism for CDN video delivery is similar.
Key benefits of using video CDNs
CDNs have become the backbone of various niche sites. By 2022, global Internet traffic from CDNs is expected to reach 252 EB per month.
From news sites to online stores, you need a CDN to deliver content faster to a global audience. Video CDNs are equally important for streaming platforms.
Here are the main reasons why you should invest in a video CDN: 1.
- Reliability
A video CDN routes user requests to the nearest edge server. It helps reduce the burden on the source server and prevents it from being overwhelmed by too many requests. In addition, it eliminates the hassle of running out of network bandwidth.
Likewise, caching files across multiple servers ensures seamless failover. The combination of these factors protects your streaming platform from slowdowns and crashes.
- Scalability
With a video CDN, your streaming platform is always able to handle more traffic. It takes the burden off the source servers, thus preventing system crashes due to unprecedented traffic surges. It is especially useful for worry-free live streaming.
- Quality
One of the main benefits of CDN video delivery is that it reduces the round-trip time (RTT) to and from the source server. Delivering requested content from a server close to the end user reduces latency and buffering time. This, in turn, enhances the viewing experience.
- Security
Modern video CDNs have sophisticated security features, including DDoS and malware protection. It adds another layer of security to the streaming workflow and helps protect your content assets.
What are the benefits of using a CDN?
While the benefits of using a CDN depend on the size and needs of your Internet assets, for most users, the main benefits can be broken down into four distinct components.
- Reduced site load time – By distributing content to CDN servers near the visitor (among other optimizations), visitors experience faster page load times. Since visitors are more likely to leave a slow-loading site, a CDN can reduce bounce rates and increase the amount of time people stay on that site. In other words, the faster the site, the longer the user stays.
- Reduce bandwidth costs – The cost of bandwidth consumption for web hosting is a major expense for a website. Through caching and other optimizations, CDNs are able to reduce the amount of data that the source server must serve, thus reducing the hosting costs for the site owner.
- Increase content availability and redundancy – Heavy traffic or hardware failures can disrupt normal site functionality. Because of their distributed nature, CDNs can handle more traffic and withstand hardware failures better than many source servers.
- Improve site security – CDNs can improve security by providing DDoS mitigation, improvements to security certificates, and other optimizations.
Finally, make sure it is compatible with your video hosting service. Or, you can look for a video hosting service with a built-in CDN.
Xmediatv offers a wide range of solutions to help content creators and publishers start their OTT journey. Contact us to schedule a demo.