Windows Media Server or Web Server?
The world is currently undergoing a major digital change. This change is focused on many businesses working remotely, canceling in-person events, and searching for ways to keep in touch with employees and clients through technology.
With this shift, video CDNs (content delivery networks) are ramping up business to ensure full accessibility for new customers and viewers alike.
In recent years, the growth of the online video trend for 2023 has only accelerated. We’re living in a key moment in the evolution of media and entertainment history. In fact, people watch about 17 hours of videos every week, on average. While it’s slightly down from the 2022 peak, it’s much higher than pre-COVID numbers.
Research shows overwhelmingly that digital video now represents the single most important media format today. That has since grown again following the movement to close company locations during the COVID-19 crisis. The transition to online video content has not slowed down.
In this post, we’re going to look into all things related to video CDNs. We will compare 10 video streaming CDN providers in 2023 for mobile-compatible, HTML5 live video streaming. We will also look at four online video platforms with built-in content delivery networks or powerful CDN partners.
This post has been revised to reflect the most up-to-date information regarding the top CDN providers as of July 2023.
What is HTML5 Live Video Streaming?
In the past, most live video streaming reached viewers via the Flash video player. Originally developed by Macromedia and later acquired by Adobe, the Flash player soon became a ubiquitous part of the internet. Anyone who used the internet in the 1990s or early 2000s is probably familiar with the Flash player.
This all changed with the launch of the first iPhone, however. Steve Jobs famously refused to include Flash support due to security and battery-life problems. Instead, Apple created an alternative called HLS — HTTP Live Streaming.
HLS is supported on iOS, Android, Mac, Windows, Linux, and almost every other modern platform. It also doesn’t require a plugin but uses built-in HTML5 browser functionality. The HTML5 video player is now, by far, the preferred method for video playback.
Many major professional video hosting platforms, like Mslive, use an HTML5 player that can be embedded on any website. Professional platforms typically make these video players white-label and fully customizable so that you can add your own company’s branding, colors, and more.
You can utilize the latest cutting-edge live streaming software technology and long-established standards to deliver your video. HLS delivery and RTMP ingest are currently optimal for low latency, security, and compatibility.
In fact, according to Cisco, about 82% of all internet traffic came from videos in 2022. This number is only expected to grow in the future as the popularity of videos rises. Given this trend, HTML5 and mobile-compatible live streaming are essential for businesses.
What is a Video Content Delivery Network (CDN)?
A content delivery network (CDN) exists to deliver content via the internet. This content can come in text, images, videos, and much more. The use of a content delivery network happens most often when a business is trying to distribute large files. Video CDNs are necessary for the transmission of media files.
Even a short, relatively low-resolution video requires much more storage space (at rest) has greater bandwidth consumption (in transit) than other data types. Content delivery network providers exist to help you cope with this. Videos use a lot of data, and video CDN helps ensure that you can transmit that data.
As more and more businesses move to remote work and stay in touch with their customer base via the internet, a reliable CDN provider is essential. A video CDN can be compared to a series of cell phone towers that ping one another for optimal signals. A video CDN is a method for transmitting your videos over long distances.
Why Use a Video Streaming CDN?
When a business uses a CDN, it allows for scalability, high-quality content, next to no lag time, and full security for the viewers.
By connecting to servers worldwide, CDNs can create a shorter video stream route from the origin server to a viewer’s computer or mobile phone. Using this large network of connected servers makes it easier to handle streaming video content to the user’s device should viewership increase. Some other benefits of using a CDN provider:
- Speed: Content delivery networks deliver content at low latency. While a local network lags, a CDN is in the passing lane, bypassing the local network and speeding to get to the viewer on time.
- Quality: High-quality video with minimal lag time. Exactly what the viewer wants.
- Security: Businesses are full of confidential information. CDNs provide an extra layer of security because of that. Using a CDN will prevent security attacks when a site or resource is flooded by attempts to breach it.
The best CDNs offer consistent speeds, high-quality video delivery, and security.
Content Delivery Networks and Video Hosting
A server is involved when you visit a website and watch a video on the internet. Your computer sends a signal to a server requesting website content, which gets delivered to you. A CDN is made out of hundreds, if not thousands, of these servers located worldwide, making the transmission of video segments possible.
As we’ve mentioned, the better the content delivery network you use, the higher quality the video segments will be for your users. There will be less lag when loading a video, making it seamless for a viewer. A video delivery network will help increase the quality of your video platform.
The same goes for video hosting platforms. While you can host on-demand videos online for free on YouTube, as a business, you’ll want a more professional private video platform. The dedicated online video streaming service you choose will provide a network of computer servers that will store your media files on their disks. It also provides a robust network connection so that viewers can access the videos quickly and easily without any network lag.
As you can tell, CDNs and video hosting are related. And, as a business, you need the best options to begin your remote video strategy and provide the best live streaming and on-demand video-watching experience for your users. You need to know the best CDN for video streaming.
What to Look for in a Video CDN Provider
Before diving into our platform comparison, we wanted to share a tip to consider when deciding which platform to pick. Some of these platforms will only provide a content delivery network. The other platforms are Online Video Platforms (OVPs).
When you choose a dedicated video CDNs, you should ensure it has a large, reliable network of connected servers everywhere you’re trying to reach. You should pay close attention to bandwidth when choosing the best CDN for video streaming for your needs.
An OVP is a solution-focused provider specifically for hosting videos, and many support live videos as well. These streaming platforms are smaller than all-purpose CDNs but deliver excellent functionality. They can have more affordable pricing, as you’ll read in the comparison.
An OVP allows you to do many additional things:
- Upload video-on-demand content for viewing at any time
- Stream live video
- Organize files via an online dashboard
- Optimize content for mobile, desktop, smart TVs, and any other devices
- Use custom videos players
- Embed on a website or any social media platform of your choice
- Monetize over-the-top video via methods like pay-per-view or subscriptions
- Restrict access to content using security settings
- Include custom branding on video content
When deciding exactly what you’re looking for, consider a video platform that partners with CDN providers for content delivery. These will likely provide the highest quality on-demand videos for your users and the biggest bang for your buck in terms of additional features for the price.
Top 10 Video CDN Providers
Below is a comparison of the 10 best CDN for video hosting and live streaming. We’ll discuss each company’s history, what features they offer, and their CDN pricing comparison. That way, you can choose the best CDN for your needs.
1. Cloudflare
Cloudflare is an American web infrastructure and website security company that provides CDN services.
Next, let’s take a look at Cloudflare. Cloudflare is a growing CDN with widely distributed PoPs (Points of Presence) worldwide. PoP is an artificial demarcation point or interface point between communicating entities. It’s also very popularly used for security as it protects your core network infrastructure from DDoS and other attacks that could put your users at risk.
Cloudflare’s CDN network is spread over 300 cities across 100 countries, giving you a wide reach.
Basic Functionality:
Their hosting service incorporates some great features, including cloud encoding and customizable HTML5 video players. They also support API access.
Key Features:
- Globally Load Balanced CDN
- Static Web Content Caching
- Instant Full Cache Purge
- Min Cache TTL Expiry
- Custom Cache Keys
- Argo Smart Routing
- China Network
- Accelerated Mobile Links (AMP)
- Async JavaScript Loading with Rocket Loader
- Mobile Optimization
- CNAME Setup
- Key-value Storage with Workers
Top 4 Online Video Platforms with Integrated CDNs
Now, let’s shift gears and review a few of the top online video platforms with integrated video content delivery networks. When you need a video content distribution network and a video CDN network, it can be great to work with a service provider that can give you both simultaneously.
1. Wowza
Wowza was founded in 2005 and is based out of Colorado. It is a streaming media software that offers CDN services.
Next up in our review of CDN providers, let’s take a look at Wowza Media Systems. Wowza is an online video platform that provides products and services widely used in the streaming video CDN industry. That includes Wowza Streaming Cloud, their hosting, and streaming platform. Streaming Cloud is the service we will be looking at here.
Basic Functionality:
Wowza offers its Wowza Streaming Engine for self-hosted video workflows in addition to the Wowza Streaming Cloud, which is a comprehensive streaming solution.
Wowza allows broadcasters to build highly customized streaming workflows using third-party integrations, APIs, and other advanced features.
Key Features:
- Cloud transcoding
- Live streaming and VOD hosting
- White-label video player for advanced customization
- HTML5 video player for all-device video streaming
- API access
- Top-notch customer support
Pros:
- APIs are available
- Live stream recording
- Cloud management portal
- 4K streaming
- Wide range of security options
Cons:
- No simulcasting tools
- Lack of video monetization and audience analytics tools
Final Thoughts
With the information we’ve provided about the top video CDNs on the market, you can make an informed decision about which to choose to deliver your video content. We have covered some of what we consider the best CDNs above.
Be critical of what you need from a service platform and the budget you’re working with, and pick a video streaming solution that offers help to their customers. If you’re just beginning video streaming at your business, there will be hiccups. Speaking to support services will allow those hiccups to go away quickly.
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