Content Delivery Networks for Streaming

Video streaming is one of the largest mega-trends today. It’s a whole new way of consuming content, involving specific technologies and challenges.



Video is currently the most requested content format on the Internet. Distributing video using CDN requires a different approach than distributing other types of content.



The very nature of video as content is different because users (usually) want to watch it instantly and not download and watch it later (unlike having to download and install an app before being able to use it).

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You can broadcast live streams through a Content Delivery Network (CDN) such as Akamai, through the KMC. The encoding software installed (such as FMLE) encodes your real-time camera signal and sends it out through a secure RTMP connection to the CDN. Then, using a Kaltura Player, you can embed the live broadcast in your websites. You can set the live stream entry metadata and specify broadcasting settings in the KMC in the same way VOD content is managed. By using a CDN for live streaming, you guarantee a better experience for your viewers worldwide.



There are two types of video content:

Video on demand : video content that has been prerecorded and is available for streaming at any time. Example: using Netflix to watch movies or TV shows.

: video content that has been prerecorded and is available for streaming at any time. Example: using Netflix to watch movies or TV shows. Live video: video content that is possible to watch as it is being recorded, with no or as little delay as possible.Example: a live broadcast of a football game.

There are also two types of video content providers:

OTT (Over the Top) providers: these providers deliver their video content through an Internet infrastructure rather than using traditional media like television. Examples: Netflix, Amazon Video, Hulu, smaller independent services.

providers: these providers deliver their video content through an Internet infrastructure rather than using traditional media like television. Examples: Netflix, Amazon Video, Hulu, smaller independent services. IPTV (Internet Protocol Television): these providers deliver television content through Internet Protocol networks using Internet connection rather than through traditional satellite or cable formats. Examples: watching television content in real time or recording content that the user can watch later at their convenience.

Users want to watch video now, without delay.. To achieve that goal, CDN Service Providers use advanced technologies:

RTSP (Real Time Streaming Protocol): RTSP is a network control protocol designed to control streaming media servers and a set of simple commands for users, such as play, pause and record.



RTP (Real-Time Transfer Protocol) is another protocol, responsible for the transmission of streaming data. Other protocols used are UDP (User Datagram Protocol) and TCP (Transmission Control Protocol).



The main advantage of RTSP is it doesn’t require local storage content. All content is live access. Its disadvantages are higher price, complex implementation process and no possibility for CDN support. That’s why today it is rarely used.



ABR (Adaptive Bitrate Streaming): This streaming technology is based on HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol) and progressive downloading (downloading and watching smaller chunks of video content at a time while the rest of the video is still being downloaded).

How ABR works. Source: Wikipedia

An encoder is used to produce smaller bit rates from the original video file. These smaller chunks of information are stored on the user’s computer and are pieced together through a Manifest File that is being downloaded every few seconds.



The smaller chunks of information are in fact several seconds long pieces of video content. They can be downloaded in different qualities (High, Medium, Low Bitrate Stream). The quality affects their total size. The size of these chunks depends on detecting the user’s bandwidth and the technical specifications of the device the user is using for streaming video. This process of determining the size and quality of downloadable chunks runs automatically.

The relationship between stream quality and user’s available bandwidth. Source: Wikipedia

ABR’s main advantage is the fact it is based on HTTP, which makes it optimized for excellent performance on the Internet. It is also compatible with CDN: video content can be stored in its Delivery Nodes, which makes it more accessible for the user.



Today, ABR is implemented for use on various platforms and operating systems, including Flash (Youtube), iOS and Android. MPEG-DASH is an internationally standardized bit rate streaming technology used across different devices and wireless networks.



Despite the advent of ABR and HTTP streaming, there still is a need for live video delivery, since live video can’t be cached like the content that has been previously recorded. Progressive downloads are the favourable option, in contrast to direct downloads where the entire video clip needed to be downloaded to a viewer’s computer before it could be viewed. While this is acceptable for downloading a game or computer application, the tolerance level of viewers waiting for content to download—especially something such as a movie, which could be over 1GB in size, was low.



The first huge notable website that relied on progressive downloads was YouTube. the CDN begins delivering the download, but a viewer can begin watching content within the first 3-5 seconds, on the assumption that the viewer’s fast internet connection will continue to download the video clip at a fast enough pace to avoid running out of viewable content. As the speed of the internet connections outpaced the bitrates used for standard-definition content, many viewers would have the entire video clip downloaded before they were even halfway through viewing the content.



The best solution so far is called HTTP streaming, and it is coupled very tightly with adaptive bitrate (ABR) encoding and delivery. HTTP streaming uses generic HTTP servers (often based on Apache or Windows Server) to deliver on-demand video files the same way that other HTTP website content—such as images and text files—is delivered. Adaptive bitrate is added to a CDN, which converts a video stream into fragments or chunks, often 2-10 seconds in length. ABR creates discrete streams at various bitrates and then uses feedback from the internet user’s video player to dynamically detect the optimum network speed for delivery of the video clip.



Streaming servers deliver the content at the time of a request, but only deliver the bits requested rather than the entire length of the video clip. This was helpful for the content owner who was paying the CDN for delivery by the bit, since a viewer choosing to abandon viewing of a clip halfway through its duration would not have downloaded the entire clip, regardless of the viewer’s internet connection speed.



One of the latest trends in technology, the 4K Ultra HD is about to get much bigger. The impact of 4K is growing month by month. The new resolution format itself is slowly starting to remake perceptions of where the entire visual media industry will be going over the next few years. Consumers want high quality and resolution, and broadcasters want their ultra HD recordings and their live casts available everywhere. Mobile browsing is the largest growing and the most adopted megatrend so far. It’s taking over desktop and getting bigger every day.

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A fast high-speed Internet connectivity is crucial to the wider proliferation of 4K. The data loads that 4K streams is truly massive and content broadcasters are painfully aware of this. Faster connectivity is a major issue that 4K providers are tirelessly working on. An expansion in the number of homes that can enjoy access to internet speeds that at least consistently cover the minimum of 25Mbps necessary for reliable ultra HD streams. With the fast expansion of 4K and high resolution streaming, the adoption of CDNs is only expected to grow.

CDN for Emerging Markets

An emerging market is a country that has some characteristics of a developed market, but does not meet standards to be a developed market. This includes countries that may be developed markets in the future or were in the past. The term “frontier market” is used for developing countries with slower economies than “emerging”, where the economies of China and India are considered to be the largest. Iran is also considered an emerging market.



The Indian e-commerce market is expected to grow to US$ 200 billion by 2026 from US$ 38.5 billion as of 2017. Much growth of the industry has been triggered by increasing internet and smartphone penetration. The ongoing digital transformation in the country is expected to increase India’s total internet user base to 829 million by 2021 from 604.21 million as of December 2018. India’s Internet economy is expected to double from US$125 billion as of April 2017 to US$ 250 billion by 2020, majorly backed by ecommerce. India’s E-commerce revenue is expected to jump from US$ 39 billion in 2017 to US$ 120 billion in 2020, growing at an annual rate of 51 per cent, the highest in the world.



The Brazilian content delivery network market is estimated to grow from $88.25 million in 2013 to $192.4 million by 2019, at a CAGR of 13.9% during the forecast period. The rapid growth of Internet-enabled devices such as smartphones and tablets are the major factors driving the Brazilian content delivery network market. The demand in the content delivery market in Brazil is growing rapidly because of the increased internet consumption in the country. The increasing trend of utilizing internet in almost every walk of life has been on a steep rise in the Brazil market due to which the internet traffic has been continuously increasing, thus increasing the need for an effective CDN solutions market.



With more than 800million users, China has the world’s largest online population, representing more than 1 out of every 5 online users globally. 98% of Chinese users are mobile.. Delivering online content into China presents numerous challenges, including a unique internet infrastructure and an increasingly mobile user base. Deploying a CDN meets the unique challenges that China presents, helping global enterprises accelerate website and media delivery, and business application responsiveness. A CDN eliminates the need to invest in expensive local infrastructure, which reduces operational strain on your organization.



There are 3 key factors to China’s online revenue growth potential:

China has the largest Internet population in the world (over 800million)

China is the largest ecommerce market in the world, worth around $2 trillion

Around 98% of average Chinese consumers browse products on smartphones

The Middle East and Africa content delivery network (CDN) market is estimated to grow from $0.18 billion in 2013 to $0.45 billion by 2019, at a CAGR of 15.6% during the forecast period. This market is driven by the rise of Internet consumption and the increasing number of smartphone users. The growth of the CDN market in the Middle East and Africa can be attributed to the limitations in perceived quality service while accessing content over the web. It’s safe to say that the adoption of CDNs only expands markets.



The content delivery network market is growing; the info shown above shows the great potential that CDNs hold for emerging markets. Content delivery networks allow access to various servers that provide web data and web content, which are great to deliver the best content available to countries with not so well developed IT infrastructure, while providing maximum user experience, from source server to end-user in a reliable and timely manner.