The scale of streaming video on the Internet.

Thu Dec 2 21:13:34 UTC 2010

On 12/2/2010 2:38 PM, Seth Mattinen wrote:
> On 12/2/10 12:28 PM, Owen DeLong wrote:
>> You are assuming the absence of any of the following optimizations:
>>
>> 1.	Multicast
>
> Multicast is great for simulating old school broadcasting, but I don't
> see how it can apply to Netflix/Amazon style demand streaming where
> everyone can potentially watch a different stream at different points in
> time with different bitrates.

This isn't a take it or leave it deal. To start out and branch out, most 
streaming is VOD, which even within a cable network eats up huge amounts 
of bandwidth. In the end, it's expected that there will be a mix of 
multicast and VOD.

Watch the game live multicast. Missed the game? Watch it on demand. As 
things progress, we'll probably see more edge content delivery systems 
(like Akamai) to cache/store huge amounts of video for the local 
populace. It won't be every movie, but it will be the ones which have a 
high repeat rate to ease traffic off critical infrastructure, saving 
everyone money, making everyone happy.

What would be really awesome (unless I've missed it) is Internet access 
to the emergency broadcast system and local weather services; all easily 
handled with multicast.

Jack