How Netflix Live Streams to 100 Million Devices in 60 Seconds
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Netflix's Live Origin is a custom-built server bridging cloud live streaming pipelines and the Open Connect CDN. Key architectural decisions include dual redundant regional pipelines for fault tolerance, predictable 2-second segment templates, and intelligent segment selection that picks the best candidate from either pipeline. To optimize CDN performance, Netflix extended nginx with millisecond-grain caching, implemented request holding at the live edge, and uses custom HTTP headers to propagate streaming metadata to millions of devices. Storage evolved from AWS S3 to a Cassandra-backed key-value store with EVCache write-through caching, achieving median latency of 25ms and supporting 200+ Gbps read throughput. The system uses strict publishing isolation, priority-based rate limiting (live edge over DVR), and hierarchical metadata caching to handle 404 storms and traffic surges. During the 2024 Tyson vs. Paul fight, Netflix handled 65 million concurrent streams.
Table of contents
New Year, New Metrics: Evaluating AI Search in the Agentic Era (Sponsored)How the System WorksMulti-Pipeline Awareness and Intelligent SelectionNo invasive meeting bots (Sponsored)Optimizing for Open ConnectStreaming Metadata Through HTTP HeadersCache Invalidation and Origin MaskingStorage Architecture EvolutionScalability and Request PrioritizationHandling 404 StormsConclusion1 Comment
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