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Guidance for Modernizing Video Content Distribution on AWS

Overview

This Guidance demonstrates how to distribute live video content over both satellites and the cloud, helping you modernize your content distribution platform and better monetize video content. Using this Guidance, you can transform traditional satellite-only distribution into multi-platform distribution channels from a single video source, thereby creating more value and widening your reach across online environments. And because AWS managed services remove the undifferentiated heavy lifting of maintaining a highly reliable and available video workflow, you can concentrate your resources on optimizing your content distribution strategy across platforms.

How it works

This architecture diagram shows how to build a highly reliable, available, scalable, and secure video workflow with AWS managed services, helping you distribute high-quality video content over satellite and the internet.

Download the architecture diagram

Well-Architected Pillars

The architecture diagram above is an example of a Solution created with Well-Architected best practices in mind. To be fully Well-Architected, you should follow as many Well-Architected best practices as possible.

CloudWatch gathers key metrics from MediaConnect and MediaLive so that you can monitor the state and activity of channels and statistical multiplexers. You can also use CloudWatch to visualize metrics, source and output health, and video quality. For example, you can monitor MediaConnect metrics to make sure they adhere to European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) TR 101 290 specifications. MediaConnect and MediaLive also generate alerts using Amazon CloudWatch Events, Amazon CloudWatch Logs, or AWS CloudTrail. By providing these metrics and logs, CloudWatch makes it easy for you to troubleshoot and resolve issues quickly.

Read the Operational Excellence whitepaper 

With Secrets Manager, you can use encryption to secure video streams against unauthorized access and distribution, and it natively integrates with MediaConnect. Additionally, CloudFront supports several options to secure content, including HTTPS connections, field-level encryption, and geographic restrictions.

Read the Security whitepaper 

Statmux for MediaLive automatically provisions Statmux resources across multiple Availability Zones within a Region for a given workflow, thereby enabling reliable broadcast distribution. It allows your satellite operators to receive two statistically multiplexed video streams at their teleport for uplink, enabling high availability without the need to manage any redundant infrastructure.

Read the Reliability whitepaper 

The capabilities of CloudFront allow you to reliably deliver high-quality video services at high speed and low latency to millions of users worldwide. Video on demand and live streams can start quickly and deliver video in a consistent manner to any device. Additionally, CloudFront natively integrates with AWS Elemental Media Services, helping you automate video workflows for content delivery.

Read the Performance Efficiency whitepaper 

MediaConvert transcodes file-based content into a live stream quickly and reliably, and MediaPackage enables the content to be played on several devices at the same time. These services have no minimum fees, so you pay only for what you use. Additionally, by using these managed services, you don’t need to manage any infrastructure, helping you reduce costs further.

Read the Cost Optimization whitepaper 

AWS Elemental Media Services, Amazon Cognito, and CloudFront are a suite of managed services that reduce the amount of infrastructure needed to support cloud workloads and help you maximize resource utilization. By using scalable and managed services, you can minimize the environmental impact of your workloads and avoid overprovisioning resources.

Read the Sustainability whitepaper 

Disclaimer

The sample code; software libraries; command line tools; proofs of concept; templates; or other related technology (including any of the foregoing that are provided by our personnel) is provided to you as AWS Content under the AWS Customer Agreement, or the relevant written agreement between you and AWS (whichever applies). You should not use this AWS Content in your production accounts, or on production or other critical data. You are responsible for testing, securing, and optimizing the AWS Content, such as sample code, as appropriate for production grade use based on your specific quality control practices and standards. Deploying AWS Content may incur AWS charges for creating or using AWS chargeable resources, such as running Amazon EC2 instances or using Amazon S3 storage.