Cloud services are an effective way to begin live streaming. Still, once you reach a particular scale, it's common to realize that you’re paying too much and can save significant OPEX by deploying transcoding infrastructure yourself. The question is, how to get started?
NETINT’s Build Your Own Live Streaming Platform symposium gathers insights from the brightest engineers and game-changers in the live-video processing industry on how to build and deploy a live-streaming platform.
In just three hours, we’ll cover the following:
- Hardware options for live transcoding and encoding to cut costs by as much as 80%.
- Software options for producing, delivering, and playing your live video streams.
- Co-location selection criteria to achieve cloud-like performance with on-premise affordability.
You’ll also hear from two engineers who will demystify the process of assembling a live-streaming facility, how they identified and solved key hurdles, along with real costs and performance data.
Cloud? Or your own hardware?
It’s clear to many that producing live streams via a public cloud like AWS can be vastly more expensive than owning your hardware. (You can learn more by reading “Cloud or On-Premises? The Streaming Dilemma” and “How to Slash CAPEX, OPEX, and Carbon Emissions Using the NETINT T408 Video Transcoder”).
To quote serial entrepreneur David Hansson, who recently migrated two SaaS services from the cloud to on-premise, “Don’t let the entrenched cloud interests dazzle you into believing that running your own setup is too complicated. Everyone and their dog did it to get the internet off the ground, and it’s only gotten easier since.”
For those who have only operated in the cloud, there’s fear of the unknown. Fear buying hardware transcoders, selecting the right software, and choosing the best colocation service. So, we decided to fight fear with education and host a symposium to educate streaming engineers on all these topics.
“Building Your Own Live Streaming Cloud” will uncover how owning your encoding stack can slash operating costs and boost performance with minimal CAPEX.
Learn to select the optimal transcoding hardware, transcoding and packaging software, and colocation facilities. We’ll also discuss strategies to reduce carbon emissions from your transcoding engine.
This FREE virtual event takes place on August 17th, from 11:00 AM – 2:15 PM EST.
Five issues tackled by nine experts:
Transcoding Hardware Options:
Learn the pros and cons of CPU, GPU, and ASIC-based transcoding via detailed throughput and cost examples shared by Kenneth Robinson, Manager of Field Application Engineers at NETINT Technologies. Then Ilya Mikhaelis, Streaming Backend Tech Lead at Mayflower, will describe his company’s journey from CPU to GPU to ASICs, covering costs, power consumption, latency, and density metrics.
Software Options:
Jan Ozer from NETINT will identify the three categories of transcoding software: multimedia frameworks, media servers, and other tools. Then you’ll hear from experts in each category, starting with Romain Bouqueau, founder of Motion Spell, who will discuss the capabilities of the GPAC multimedia framework. Barry Owen, Chief Solutions Architect at Wowza, will discuss Wowza Streaming Engine’s suitability for private clouds. Lastly, Adrian Roe, Director at Id3as, developer of Norsk, will demonstrate Norsk’s simple, scripting-based operation, and extensive production and transcoding features.
Housing Options:
Once you select your hardware and software, the next step is finding the right co-location facility to house your live streaming infrastructure. Kyle Faber, with experience in building Edgio’s video streaming infrastructure, will guide you through the essential factors to consider when choosing a co-location facility.
Minimizing the Environmental Impact:
As responsible streaming professionals, it’s essential to address the environmental impact of our operations. Barbara Lange, Secretariat of Greening of Streaming, will outline actionable steps video engineers can take to minimize power consumption when acquiring and deploying transcoding servers.
Pulling it All Together:
Stef van der Ziel, founder of live-streaming pioneer Jet-Stream, will share lessons learned from his experience in creating both Jet-Stream’s private cloud and cloud transcoding solutions for customers. In his closing talk, Stef will demystify the process of choosing hardware, software, and a hosting facility, bringing all the previous discussions together into a cohesive plan.
Full Agenda:
11:00 am. – 11:10 am EST
Introduction (10 minutes):
Mark Donnigan, Head of Strategic Marketing at NETINT Technologies
Welcome, overview, and what you will learn.
11:10 am. – 11:40 am EST
Choosing transcoding hardware (30 minutes):
Kenneth Robinson, Manager of Field Application Engineers at NETINT Technologies
You have three basic approaches to transcoding, CPU-only, GPU, and ASICs. Kenneth outlines the pros and cons of each approach with extensive throughput and CAPEX and OPEX examples for each.
11:40 am. – 12:00 pm EST
From CPU to GPU to ASIC: Our Transcoding Journey (20 minutes):
Ilya Mikhaelis, Streaming Backend Tech Lead at Mayflower
Charged with supporting very high-volume live transcoding operations, Ilya started with libx264 software transcoding, which consumed massive power but yielded low stream density per server. Then he experimented with GPUs and other hardware and ultimately transitioned to an ASIC-based solution with much lower power consumption and much higher stream density per server. Ilya will detail the costs, power consumption, and density of all options, providing both data and an invaluable evaluation framework.
12:00 pm. – 12:10 pm EST
Choosing your live production software (10 minutes):
Jan Ozer, Senior Director of Video Technology at NETINT Technologies
The core of every live streaming system is transcoding and packaging software. This comes in many shapes and sizes, from open-source software like FFmpeg and GPAC, to streaming servers like Wowza, and production systems like Norsk. Jan discusses these multiple options so you can cohesively and affordably build your own live-streaming ecosystem.
12:10 pm. – 1:10 pm EST
Speed Round (60 minutes):
20-minute presentations from GPAC, Wowza, and NORSK.
Speakers from GPAC, Wowza, and NORSK discussing the features, functions, operational paradigms, and cost structure of their live software offering.
Speakers include:
- Adrian Roe, CEO at id3as, Product: Norsk, Title: Make Live Easy with NORSK SDK
- Romain Bouqueau, Founder and CEO, Motion Spell (home for GPAC Licensing), Product: GPAC Title of Talk: Deploying GPAC for Transcoding and Packaging
- Barry Owen, Chief Solutions Architect at Wowza, Title of Talk: Start Streaming in Minutes with Wowza Streaming Engine
1:10 pm. – 1:40 pm EST
Choosing a co-location facility (30 minutes):
Kyle Faber, Senior Director of Product Management at Edgio.
Once you’ve chosen your hardware and software, you need a place to install them. If you don’t have your own connected data center, you may consider a colocation facility. In his talk, Kyle addresses the key factors to consider when choosing a co-location facility for your live streaming infrastructure.
1:40 pm. – 1:55 pm EST
How to Greenify Your Encoding Stack (15 minutes):
Barbara Lange, Secretariat of Greening of Streaming.
Learn how video streaming companies can work to significantly reduce their energy footprint and contribute to a greener streaming industry. Implement hardware and infrastructure optimization using immersion cooling and data center design improvements to maximize energy efficiency in your streaming infrastructure.
1:55 pm. – 2:15 pm EST
Closing Keynote (20 minutes):
Stef van der Ziel, Founder Jet-Stream
Jet-stream has delivered streaming solutions since its launch in 1994 and offers its own live streaming platform. One focus has been creating custom transcoding solutions for customers seeking to create their own private cloud for various applications. In his closing talk, Stef will demystify the process of choosing hardware, software, and a hosting facility and wrap a pretty bow around all previous presentations.
