1.
Netflix Open Connect
Delivery Architecture
Jocelyn Ooi
Netflix
NETFLIX
CONFIDENTIAL
NOT FOR
DISTRIBUTION

2.
• >109 million members
• > 190 countries
• > At peak, Netflix streams over 250 Million
hours in a single day

3.
How
Works
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4.
Inventing Internet TV:
• The architecture of internet streaming
• Quality of Experience
• Cost
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5.
DATA PLANE
Open Connect
Content
Delivery
Network
CONTROL PLANE
STREAM
NETFLIX
DEVICE
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6.
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7.
before streaming starts = control plane =
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8.
streaming = data plane = Open Connect NETFLIX
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9.
Data Plane
(streaming playback)
NETFLIX
CONFIDENTIAL
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10.
Open Connect
A NETFLIX ORIGINAL NETFLIX
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11.
History
Streaming
Launched
(“EHub”)
2007
Third Party CDN
2009
Open Connect
2011
NETFLIX
CONFIDENTIAL
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DISTRIBUTION

12.
Hardware
Open
Connect
Appliances
NETFLIX
CONFIDENTIAL
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DISTRIBUTION

13.
Designed for bulk storage of the entire large regional content catalogs
“Storage” appliance
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14.
High-throughput servers, used to serve very popular content
“Flash” or “Offload” appliance
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15.
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16.
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17.
Open Connect
connects directly to
residential ISP networks.
95% of our traffic is directly
connected.

18.
We provide free
Open Connect Appliances
for Internet Service Provider
(ISP) data centers

19.
We also provide
interconnection to ISPs at
Internet Exchange locations
throughout the world

20.
wait, what’s an IXP?
An Internet exchange point
(IX or IXP) is
a physical infrastructure through
which
Internet Service Providers (ISPs)
and
Content Delivery Networks (CDNs)
exchange Internet traffic between
their networks
-wikipedia
Singapore Equinix SG3

21.
Netflix Site
© 2015 Netflix Inc
Single CORE Sample Configuration
o 1 Site, 2 OCAs in a redundant configuration
o OCAs can be clustered for cache fill
o Connections to 2 Core Routers
NETFLIX
Core
Router-1
Tokyo
Core
Site
Core
Router-1
PARTNER PROVIDED
SPACE/Power
Core
Router-2
OCA-1 OCA-2
NETFLIX
Core
Router-2
IX
SW1
IX
SW2
NETFLIX PROVIDED
EQUIPMENT
IX ConnectionIX Connection
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CONFIDENTIAL
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22.
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23.
Control Plane
(streaming setup)

24.
Determine the preferred experience
DEVICETITLE
CONNECTIONS
LOCATION
NETWORK
Broadband - wired or wifi
Cellular - Edge, 3G, LTE, ...
LANGUAGE
HDCP support, etc.

25.
That’s exactly what I want

26.
...now
where can I
get it?

27.
GENERATE
PLAYBACK
MANIFEST
PLAYBACK
MANIFEST
PLAYBACK
This is how we steer the request to the
correct server/network/location
LICENSE
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28.
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29.
Content
Filling
pre-positioning

30.
Caches fill while
you sleep

31.
Files are copied off-peak
(in the middle of the night)
when networks are not
loaded, using pre-positioning
algorithms

32.
CONTENT RANK
BYTES
STREAMED
PREDICTABLE VIEWING PATTERNSNETFLIX
CONFIDENTIAL
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DISTRIBUTION

33.
Using the purpose-built
Open Connect network,
we can copy each new Netflix
show into a region once, then
show it thousands or millions of
times.
NETFLIX
CONFIDENTIAL
NOT FOR
DISTRIBUTION

34.
Networks are dimensioned for peak capacity
Off-peak cache fill is “free”

35.
peak
required
upstream
capacity
1 Tbps
peak required
Netflix
capacity
350 Gbps
ISP
ISPcustomerhomes

36.
peak
required
upstream
capacity
650 Gbps
peak required Netflix capacity 0
ISP
ISPcustomerhomes

37.
THANK YOU!!!

38.
Questions?