Video Streaming and Content

Distribution Networks
Internet Videos:
The basic media in video streaming apps are pre-recorded videos,
which can be movies, TV shows, sports events, or video productions (like the ones
you see on YouTube). Users can watch these recorded videos on-demand by
sending a request to the server hosting the recording. Nowadays, video streaming
is provided by many Internet companies such as Netflix, Youku, Amazon and
YouTube (Google). Video is generally images displayed at a fixed rate, such as 24
or 30 frames per second. Each pixel in an uncompressed digitally encoded image
has a sequence.

HTTP Streaming and DASH:

In an HTTP stream, the video is stored on the HTTP server as a regular file with a
unique URL. When the user wants to watch a video, the client establishes a TCP
connection to the server and sets up an HTTP GET request. URL address. The serve
r then sends the video files as HTTP responses as soon as network protocols and
traffic conditions allow. On the client side, bytes written to the client application
are not available. When the number of bytes is within the threshold, the user
application starts iterating; specifically, the video streaming application
periodically retrieves the video image from the client's buffer, extracts frames, and
displays them on the user's screen. Therefore, the video streaming application
shows the video as it is received and buffers the frame corresponding to the end
of the video. Although, HTTP streaming is widely used in practice (such as
YouTube since the beginning of this year), it has a drawback: despite their number,
different clients have services, and sometimes for the same. Customer
Bandwidth varies but all customers receive the same video encoding. This has
led to the development of a new type of HTTP
based streaming, often called Dynamic Adaptive Streaming over HTTP (DA
SH). In DASH, video is encoded into many different versions, each with a different
bitrate and corresponding quality level. The user dynamically requests a video
several minutes long. If the available bandwidth is large, customers will not prefer
the fast version; If the bandwidth is less, they will choose the slower version. The
client selects different messages one by one using an HTTP GET request. DASH
allows users with different internet connection speeds to stream videos in
different codes. Users with slower 3G connections may experience limited access.
With the bitrate (and lower) version, fiber customers get good quality. DASH also
allows the client to change the available bandwidth if it changes during the
session. This feature is especially important for mobile users who frequently see
bandwidth drain when moving between access points. With DASH, each video
version is stored on an HTTP server and each version has a different URL. The
HTTP server also has a directory containing the URL and bitrate of each version.
The client first requests the manifest file and learns the different forms. The client
selects a fragment by specifying the URL and byte range of each fragment in the
HTTP GET request message. When downloading a block, the user also evaluates
the available bandwidth and performs a value determination algorithm to select
the block. Apply later. Of course, if the client has a lot of video buffers and the
meter receives high bandwidth, he will always choose a version with a high bitrate
. Of course, if the customer does not have enough video and the bandwidth is low,
we will choose a version with a low bitrate. Thus, DASH allows customers to
switch between different quality levels.

Content Distribution Network:

Nearly all major video companies use content delivery networks
(CDNs) to manage the distribution of large amounts of video data to users around
the world. A CDN manages servers in separate locations, stores copies of videos
(and other types of web content, including documents, images, and audio) on its
own servers, and does not attempt to redirect all user requests to the CDN site
that serves the most. contents. Practical experience. For example, a CDN can be a
custom CDN. CDNs are owned by the content creators; for example, Google's CDN
distributes YouTube videos and other types of content. Alternatively, a CDN may
be a third-party CDN that distributes content on behalf of multiple providers;
Akamai, Limelight and Level-3 use third-party CDNs. An easily readable resource
on CDNs today. CDNs typically use one of two different server distribution
methods:
Enter Deep:
One of Akamai's pioneering strategies is to gain in-depth knowledge of ISP
networks by deploying servers to provide access to ISPs around the world.
(Section 1.3 explains how to access the network.) Akamai uses this approach for a
cluster of approximately 1,700 sites. The aim is to get closer to end users and
improve latency and user experience by reducing the number of connections and
routers between end users and the CDN from which they receive content. This
ideal design makes group monitoring and management difficult.

Bring home:
Another design strategy used by Limelight and many other CDN companies
is to defeat the ISP by creating large clusters (e.g. dozens) for small websites.
Instead of logging in to the ISP, these CDNs often place their stacks on Internet
Exchange Points (IXPs). In-house designs generally result in lower maintenance
and management costs compared to deep-structure designs; This may not mean
higher latency and lower performance for the end user.
Once the cluster is created, the CDN can serve any site. his group. Because
some domain names are rare or popular only in certain countries, a CDN may not
want to provide copies of every domain name in every category. In fact, many
CDNs do not push video to their clusters, but use a simple download strategy:
When a user requests video from a cluster that does not store video, the cluster
stores the video (either from central storage or another cluster) and keep the local
copy used to stream the video to the client. Similar to a network cache , it
removes unwanted videos when the cache is full.
CDN Operation: