Video Streaming Costs | Streaming Server Costs for 2022
More enterprises are moving to the cloud each year. With video content becoming so important, it only makes sense to shift their video hosting and streaming to the cloud as well. That’s why we’re taking a deep dive into cloud video hosting and streaming for broadcasters.
More specifically, we’ll take a closer look at what video streaming and hosting servers are and how they work. We’ll also get into cloud streaming and cloud video transcoding. Finally, we’ll cover the key features to look for in a cloud video hosting platform and some of the top solutions available on the market.
Let’s dive into it.
Streaming & Video Hosting Servers
A video streaming and hosting server—similar to any other web server —is a computer that’s configured to deliver data to clients or end-users. In the case of video content, the server has software for ingesting or uploading videos, storing or hosting the files, and preparing the content for delivery.
What Is Cloud Video Streaming?
Cloud video streaming leverages a network of servers around the world.
Cloud streaming is a method for storing and delivering video content using a set of cloud servers rather than on-premise servers. Cloud video streaming with a software-as-a-service (SaaS) solution can greatly simplify the streaming process for broadcasters.
With cloud streaming, broadcasters no longer have to worry about maintaining servers and other infrastructure with an in-house IT staff. They also won’t need to invest in the hardware itself upfront, so companies are able to focus on producing quality content rather than dealing with technical issues.
As their audience grows, brands can also scale more quickly and easily in the cloud than on-premise setup. More importantly, however, when live events are over, and traffic is lower, broadcasters won’t have expensive servers sitting idle either.
Cloud Video Transcoding
When broadcasters record live streaming events, their camera, and other hardware create enormous RAW video files. These formats are often unsuitable for transfer and delivery to end-users.
That’s why, as mentioned before, videos need to be auto transcoded into a variety of formats for delivery. Video transcoding on-premise, however, takes computing resources away from the initial encoding process and uses more bandwidth on the network.
Cloud video transcoding leverages cloud computing resources to ensure compatibility with a wide range of formats. In addition, the ability to easily support multiple formats allows broadcasters to deliver adaptive bitrate streaming for universal video playback.
Key Features of a Cloud Video Hosting Platform
Before we look at some of the best cloud video hosting options to choose from, let’s cover some essential features for broadcasters.
1. Video Monetization
With video monetization features, broadcasters can generate revenue from their videos in a number of different ways.
Most broadcasters will want to generate revenue from their video content, so it’s crucial that their cloud video hosting platform has easy-to-use video monetization capabilities. Brands should be able to set up subscriptions, ad-based video monetization, and pay-per-view options. Moreover, there should be a secure paywall system to charge viewers across the globe.
2. Video Content Management System (CMS)
A cloud video hosting platform with video CMS features allows broadcasters to better organize and action their videos. These features should include the ability to sort and tag files so that they’re easier to access as the company’s library grows. In addition, more advanced video CMS solutions have customer-facing features that can analyze the metadata of individual videos to suggest related content to viewers.
3. Video APIs
Broadcasters should have complete control over delivering video content to their audience. With a robust and well-documented video API, brands can integrate video content into mobile apps, business applications, or other cloud software. A powerful API gives developers the ability to access video content and features from the cloud video hosting platform to implement more advanced business use cases.
4. Mobile Video Streaming & Hosting
Broadcasters need a universally compatible cloud platform and video player with mobile device support.
Today’s audiences are quickly shifting to mobile video streaming. That means an effective cloud video hosting platform should be compatible with a multitude of devices by streaming over HLS to an HTML5 video player. That way, broadcasters can reach a broader audience and deliver a high-quality viewing experience on mobile devices.
5. Video on Demand
Many broadcasters and businesses offer both live streaming and Video on demand (VOD) content. This requires a professional business video hosting platform that can ingest a variety of video files, encode or transcode them into a format suitable for storage, and easily share this cloud VOD content across the Internet.
6. Content Delivery Network (CDN)
While a cloud platform may be scalable, the performance end-users experience often depends on the location of the servers geographically. A top-tier CDN network with servers worldwide could be critical for reducing buffering and latency issues associated with delivery video streams long distances.
Top 12 Cloud Video Hosting Platforms
Let’s briefly cover the top 12 cloud video hosting platforms available today.
1. Mslive
Mslive’s Cloud Video Hosting platform supports both live streaming and video on demand content delivery.
Company Background:
Mslive offers enterprise-grade cloud video streaming and hosting capabilities at reasonable prices. The cloud platform is ideal for broadcasters with unique business requirements in terms of video streaming and storage.
The Mslive cloud platform makes it easy for users of all experience levels to get started with live streaming on their websites and across the internet. Once users learn the platform in-depth, they’ll have a feature-rich platform at their disposal.
Basic Functionality:
Mslive is a cloud video platform for brands that need a scalable, enterprise-grade solution.
Key Features:
- Cloud video hosting capabilities
- Video API for integrations with business software and cloud apps
- Player API for video integrations with apps and systems
- Robust real-time analytics
Pros:
- Cloud streaming and VOD with HTML5 video player
- Live stream recording within a cloud platform
- Positive reviews from customers
- 24/7 tech support for all plans
- China Video Hosting
Cons:
- The slight learning curve for using the multitude of features available
2. Vimeo Livestream
Livestream by Vimeo has advanced marketing features for large organizations.
Company Background:
Livestream is a cloud service by Vimeo for large organizations. The solution specializes in advanced marketing features for live streaming events.
Basic Functionality:
Livestream is a comprehensive cloud service for streaming, managing, and monitoring videos in the cloud.
Key Features:
- Cloud-based live streaming
- Advanced marketing capabilities
- Cloud video management
- Audience interaction features
Pros:
- In-depth analytics
- Easy for both users and viewers to use
- Works directly with YouTube
Cons:
- Limited CDN support
- Frequent software updates interrupt streams
- No China video delivery
Conclusion
Cloud video platforms are changing the way broadcasters operate. The ability to host videos and deliver live streaming events at scale is crucial for achieving more with video content. Choosing the right cloud video hosting solution, however, makes all the difference.
Mslive is an online video platform (OVP) and a cloud video hosting solution that’s secure and feature-rich. To date, more than 300,000 broadcasters have trusted Mslive to deliver their live and on-demand video content to create video players on their business websites.
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