Millions of people tuned in for, and were disappointed by, the recent Mike Tyson-Jake Paul fight. If you’re a fight fan, you were most likely let down by what turned out to be a light sparring match. With so much hype and build-up, it was sure to be a massive live-streaming event, but Netflix seemingly was even less prepared to put on a show than the fighters. Issues like buffering, pixelated video, and difficulty connecting plagued the event causing a bigger black eye for the brand than anyone got in the main event, a performance that caused them to get hit with bad press, and a $50 million class action lawsuit.
Netflix will be just fine. But, for many other enterprises, this kind of failure could cost them their brand reputation, untold losses, and huge opportunity costs. That’s why this event serves as a prime case study on ensuring your network is resilient and scalable enough to handle spikes in demand.
While we’re using the Netflix incident as an example, we recognize that not every company will be holding massive streaming events with over 100 million people tuning in. That’s a unique challenge. What’s not unique is a business having some kind of expected (or unexpected) surge in traffic to their website, using their app, or consuming their content; nor is it unique that a failure in those moments can be damaging to that business. So, read on before you run your next Black Friday deal, interview someone famous on your platform, launch a new ad campaign, or make your big announcement.
We can only speculate as to where Netflix’s network struggled. We spoke to Mark Barron and Matt Pare at Akamai Technologies to get their educated guesses. What do they suspect was the culprit? The CDN.
What is a CDN?
A CDN, or Content Delivery Network, is a geographically distributed network of servers that bring the content, applications, and data of a business closer to the end user. Rather than maintaining a network architecture that requires data to travel long distances over public internet connections to reach the end user that’s consuming the content or using the applications, the architecture of a CDM uses a number of edge servers where everything can live and be easily accessible. We know that Netflix built and manages its own CDN, so what went wrong?
Why Streaming Challenges Are Complex
The core complexity lies in anticipating audience size, scaling infrastructure, and adapting to rapidly changing technologies. Netflix’s recent hiccup serves as a reminder that even the most experienced companies are susceptible to unforeseen demand and technical failures.
Live streaming remains a significant technical challenge despite advancements in digital delivery. Even seasoned companies like Netflix, which ventured into live streaming, face growing pains. Mark Barron explains:
“Events like the Super Bowl or FIFA require months of preparation, even for those who’ve done it before. Technology evolves so quickly that what worked three years ago might no longer be relevant today.”
Key Issues That Can Disrupt Streaming Events
Like anything in the IT world, there are quite a few things that can go wrong with technology, however, there are some frequent issues that need to be addressed. Preparation can go a long way in circumventing the issues and knowing what can go wrong is a great starting point.
- Bandwidth Congestion: A spike in users can overwhelm edge servers, creating a domino effect where overloaded servers slow down or crash, redirecting traffic to less optimal locations.
- First-Mile Failures: Poor bandwidth from the event venue to the encoder can degrade the entire viewing experience.
- Middle-Mile Saturation: Insufficient capacity in the core network layer can result in significant buffering and latency.
- Codec and Bitrate Mismanagement: Utilizing adaptive bitrate streaming is critical to balance high-quality streams for users with excellent connections and manageable quality for those with limited bandwidth.
In the case of the fight, Barron observed:
“The middle mile was likely stressed. While first-mile issues would have universally degraded experiences, and last-mile variability depends on local ISPs, the middle infrastructure can make or break event delivery.”
Practical Solutions for Avoiding Streaming Failures
To ensure a seamless streaming experience, businesses must take a proactive approach to infrastructure design and event preparation. By leveraging proven strategies and technologies, organizations can mitigate common issues like server overload, latency, and security threats. Some practical solutions that businesses of all sizes can adopt to avoid the pitfalls of streaming failures and deliver exceptional experiences to their audiences:
- Adopt Multi-CDN Architectures
Having multiple CDNs as part of your infrastructure ensures redundancy.
“Multi-CDN setups are becoming the norm for major broadcasters. It distributes traffic across different networks, reducing the chance of a single point of failure,” Barron explains. - Implement Scalable Edge Architectures
Barron highlights Akamai’s extensive edge network, boasting 400,000 servers worldwide.
“Our goal is to be one hop away from every user, ensuring content delivery remains fast and resilient, even during peak events.”
For small enterprises, ensuring edge servers are strategically located can significantly improve content delivery performance. - Prepare for Surge Traffic
Techniques like virtual waiting rooms, commonly used during Black Friday or ticket sales for major events, offer a graceful failover option. Barron suggests:
“It’s better to display a message like, ‘We’ll get you in shortly,’ than to have users experience constant buffering or pixelation.” - Security Considerations
Beyond performance, security plays a vital role. From DDoS protection to token authentication, securing the infrastructure ensures that malicious actors do not disrupt the user experience.
“For live events, protecting APIs, ensuring encrypted data transmission, and using DRM (Digital Rights Management) can prevent piracy and unauthorized access,” Barron notes.
The Business Impact of Downtime
While Netflix, with its robust brand, can weather occasional issues, smaller businesses face more significant risks. Prolonged or repeated outages can erode customer trust, reduce engagement, and even lead to long-term brand damage. For smaller companies, a single high-profile failure can have lasting repercussions. Customers may never return if their trust is broken.
Planning for the Unpredictable With CDN’s
The lesson is clear: no system is immune to failure, but proactive planning and investment in robust CDN strategies can mitigate risks. As Barron aptly puts it:
“You can’t predict how large an event will be, but you can prepare for success by embracing redundancy and scalability.”
For businesses navigating the complexities of live streaming, Amplix can provide tailored solutions that address performance and security needs. Whether you’re planning your first event or scaling to global audiences, reach out to our team to ensure every click delivers a seamless experience.
