Video Streaming with NGINX
Introduced by Andrew Alexeev
Presented by Rick Nelson
Nginx IncMay 13, 2014
About this webinar
The demand for Internet Video continues to grow at a fast pace and
from all types of devices. In this webinar, you'll learn about the different
methods for streaming video and how some of the advanced features of
NGINX and NGINX Plus can be used to meet your video streaming
needs.
Video Streaming Methods
File Download
Progressive Download
Pseudo-Streaming
Adaptive Bitrate Streaming
RTMP
The Evolution of HTTP Video Streaming
Pseudo-Streaming
Adaptive Bitrate Streaming
File Download
Progressive Download
File Download
NInternet
Video Server
Content downloaded
to disk
• Playback starts after the download completes
• Download stored on disk
Progressive Download
N
Video Server
Progressive DownloadContent is streamed and played as it is downloaded
META
• Playback starts before download completes
• Meta data at the beginning of the file
• Download stored on disk
• Trick-play and media flow control not easy
• Problematic with low bandwidth connections
Pseudo-Streaming
Video Server
Pseudo-streamingClient can abort stream and request new byte-range
META xx
N
• Adds trick-play to progressive download
• Client can request partial content
• Content can be buffered by player
Adaptive Bitrate Streaming
Video Server
Adaptive StreamingClient downloads manifest, then video chunks of appropriate bitrate
MANIFEST
N
• Data is sent as a continuous stream of small chunks
• Supports trick-play capabilities
• Supports variable bitrates supported
• Easily change bitrates while streaming
• Less buffering on the client
• Better restoration from network interruptions
Adaptive Bitrate Streaming
• HTTP Live Streaming (HLS)– From Apple– Package MP4 encoded file to:
• Playlist (.m3u8)• Segment files (.ts)
• HTTP Dynamic Streaming (HDS)– From Adobe– Package MP4 encoded file to:
• Manifest (.f4m)• Index (.f4x)• Fragment(.f4f)
HLS File Structure
Master Playlist
.mp4.m3u8
Playlist Bitrate 1
.mp4.m3u8
Segment 1 Bitrate 1
.mp4.ts
Segment 2 Bitrate 1
.mp4.ts
Playlist Bitrate 2
.mp4.m3u8
Segment 1 Bitrate 2
.mp4.ts
Segment 2 Bitrate 2
.mp4.ts
HDS File Structure
Master Manifest
.f4m
Manifest Bitrate 1
.f4m
Index Bitrate 1
.f4x
Fragment Bitrate 1
.f4f
Manifest Bitrate 2
.f4m
Index Bitrate 2
.f4x
Fragment Bitrate 2
.f4f
Real Time Messaging Protocol (RTMP)
• TCP-based streaming protocol
• Developed by MacroMedia – Now Adobe
• Live and VOD streaming
• Wide desktop browser support via Flash plugin
• Supported by a variety of software
INTRODUCING NGINX…
What is NGINX?
Internet
N
Web ServerServe content from disk
Application ServerFastCGI, uWSGI, Passenger…
ProxyCaching, Load Balancing… HTTP traffic
Application Acceleration
SSL and SPDY termination
Performance Monitoring
High Availability
Advanced Features: Bandwidth Management
Content-based Routing
Request Manipulation
Response Rewriting
Authentication
Mail Proxy
Geo Location
HLS
HDS
RTMP
MP4/FLV
MP4 Bandwidth
146,000,000Websites
NGINX Accelerates
23%Top 1 million websites
38%Top 1,000 websites
NGINX and NGINX Plus
NGINX F/OSS
nginx.org
3rd party modules
Large community of >100 modules
NGINX and NGINX Plus
NGINX F/OSS
nginx.org
3rd party modules
Large community of >100 modules
NGINX Plus
Advanced load balancing featuresEase-of-managementCommercial support
NGINX Plus
• NGINX Plus builds:
– NGINX Plus
– NGINX Plus Lua
– NGINX Plus Extras
– NGINX Plus Streaming Media Server
VIDEO STREAMING WITH NGINX PLUS
NGINX Plus and HTTP Live Streaming (HLS)
• ngx_http_hls_module
• NGINX creates playlist and segment files on-the-fly
• Allows for existing mp4 files to be served by HLS
• No need to re-package content
• Save time and storage space
location /hls {
hls;
}
Demo: NGINX HLS
NGINX Plus and HTTP Dynamic Streaming (HDS)
• ngx_http_f4f_module• Manifest, index and segment files created by Adobe tools
such as f4fpackager
location /hds {
f4f;
}
Demo: NGINX HDS
NGINX and HTTP Pseudo-Streaming
• ngx_http_mp4_module
• Bandwidth can be controlled (NGINX Plus)
location /video {
mp4;
mp4_limit_rate 1.2;
mp4_limit_rate_after 15s;
}
Demo: NGINX Pseudo-Streaming
NGINX Plus and RTMP Streaming
• nginx-rtmp-module• RTMP live and VOD streaming• Stream transcoding with external software (ffmpeg, avconv)• HTTP callbacks on streaming events• Stream relay: push and pull
All (or some) Of The Above
• Many types of clients
• Many formats (Flash=HDS/RTMP, iPhone=HLS, etc.)
• You will want to support multiple delivery methods
root /tmp/mp4;
location ~ \.mp4$ {
mp4;
}
location ~ \.mp4\.(m3u8|ts)$ {
hls;
}
Session Log Aggregation
• ngx_http_session_log_module• Normal logging: One entry per segment
request– High disk space usage– Excessive disk operations – Difficult to use for billing
• Aggregation: Aggregates multiple requests
Session Log Aggregation
Example: Log sessions based on client IP and user agent. Sessions expires after in 30 seconds.
session_log_zone /var/log/nginx/sessions.log
format=combined zone=one:1m timeout=30s
md5=$binary_remote_addr$http_user_agent;
server {
[..]
location /hds/ {
session_log one;
f4f;
}
}
Demo: NGINX Log Aggregation
Demo: Show configuration file
Review
• There are multiple ways to deliver video
– HLS, HDS, pseudo-streaming, progressive download, RTMP
• You will probably need to support multiple methods
• NGINX Plus makes it easy
Questions and Answers
Closing thoughts
• 38% of the busiest websites use NGINX
• Check out the video streaming articles on nginx.com
• Future webinars: nginx.com/webinars
Try NGINX F/OSS (nginx.org) or NGINX Plus (nginx.com)
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