If you want to launch a Video on Demand (VOD) or live streaming service to deliver content across different geographies of the world; you need to have a capable video streaming solution in place. The most crucial question that you need to ponder on is should you go with building your own tech stack and in-house solution or go with a reliable cloud solution?
With video streaming becoming a prominent part of business strategy, organizations are facing this difficult question. Let us think about this logically to reach the right conclusion.
What is a Video Streaming Server?
Video streaming server is set up of networks or computers that are configured to render online video streaming services to viewers of any geography. But a server doesn’t function like a normal computer. It works with specific configurations and a suite of sophisticated software to run 24/7. Hence, it is essential to have redundancy and backup to keep the website alive during a crash or failure. It works as the technical backbone of any website.
Just like the rest of the internet, online videos are also based on HTTP (HyperText Transfer Protocol). Hence, online videos now reach viewers just like any other web app. When the user clicks on any video, the device instantly makes the connection with a video streaming server located anywhere in the world. The server loads the relevant file from the drive and instantly streams it to the viewer by leveraging streaming video protocols such as HLS.
How Does a Video Streaming Server Work?
Video streaming server software first ingests the live video streaming delivered through an encoder or received from the upload of video-on-demand (VOD) files. Live video streams are often delivered through RTMP (Real-Time Messaging Protocol). All the received files are then stored in a video CMS; ready for delivery. To achieve this, the system needs to pack the file in different formats and could require transcoding as well. Subsequently, the server delivers the video stream to different users.
Ingesting and transcoding lots of video files at the same time is a resource-intensive process. Besides video streaming servers need to scale this at a global level to deliver video content to thousands and millions of people at a single point in time. This is why video streaming servers require a large amount of RAM and storage space along with super fast processors and high-speed internet.
Video Streaming Server Software
A video streaming server delivers video content over the Internet to a user via any connected devices.
Which is the Best Video Streaming Server? In-House vs. SaaS
In today’s times where technology is evolving at a rapid pace and millions of new users are getting connected through digital devices on a daily basis; in-house servers face a few significant challenges.
Let us have a look:
- Cost: With hardware becoming obsolete at a rapid pace and multiple security vulnerabilities can keep your investment resources depleting continuously along with a lot of man-hours.
- Not Scalable: With millions of users and decreasing loyalty towards a platform, your load requirement can shrink or escalate exponentially within a fraction of seconds. Aside, without a large server network, the in-house solution might crash during the peak traffic of a large live streaming event or a viral VOD.
- Quality: In-house servers are normally kept at the location where the office of the enterprise is situated. Only in a few cases, servers are located at multiple locations. Users can experience latency issues, buffering, and lag in the absence of geographic dispersal of servers and scalability.
The only alternative we have to the above mentioned challenges is a cloud-based video streaming platform.
The cloud-based solution offers superior performance to in-house video streaming servers. A capable cloud solution can easily mitigate the above mentioned three challenges. Aside, instead of the huge upfront investment, you have the option to pay only for the capacity that you use. You are also saved from the hassle of maintenance requirements as it is taken care of by the cloud solution provider.
Benefits of Online Video Platform Solution
A reliable and efficient OVP can help businesses deliver video content reliably and easily. A capable online video platform leverages global Content Delivery Networks (CDNs) to enable scalability at an unlimited scale. It enables the service provider to launch video streaming service within minutes while avoiding all the technical challenges and server issues.
How Phando Can Help?
Phando is one of the leading OTT service providers. It offers end-to-end OTT video streaming services including video-on-demand and live video streaming services. With Phando, you can deliver the fastest playback in HD on any device or browser with a smooth and secure user experience.
Phando offers a hassle-free set up within minutes without writing a single line of code to enable you to launch a new OTT service or a new channel easily. It allows businesses to play videos on their own website with their customized branding. With Phando, you get complete ownership and total creative control of your video content.
Phando’s intuitive dashboard enables organization to easily manage and monitor the video library from the background. With real-time analytics and reports, you can efficiently gauge the performance of videos and take creative decisions based on actionable data.
Stream Any Video
Phando is capable of accepting any type of video format. It processes the video by leveraging its own set of smart transcoders to render the best possible experience to the end-user. Powerful transcoders are capable of expanding elastically to accommodate large numbers of files at a single point in time. Each video is transcoded in multiple bitrates to facilitate adaptive bitrate streaming and deliver smoother online video streaming on devices with lower internet bandwidth. The output files can be played seamlessly in flash and HTML5 players.
Easily Monetize your Videos
Phando allows content creators to easily monetize VOD and live streaming services and earn from diverse revenue streams. You can instantly start earning money by implementing a subscription model, paywall, ads and banners. Phando’s AI-enabled features help broadcasters reach a maximum number of relevant audiences and boost user engagement/ views.
With the OTT market poised to reach over $150 billion by 2024, and internet penetration increasing at a brisk pace, the time is ripe for businesses to leverage the opportunity in the OTT industry. Online video platform service can help organizations stay agile, more responsive to customer needs and scale at a rapid pace. OVP serves as a more reliable, affordable, advanced solution for businesses that are planning to foray into the business of online video streaming.
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