The significant increase in Internet traffic due to the confinement of the population due to the Coronavirus, is being a great stress test for the networks of the different countries. The leading companies in streaming, video calls and other teleworking services that need good bandwidth, makes it a great challenge to continue having quality service for all of us. At the end of the day, we would not want to be able to watch our Netflix movies and series at some point. It is not like this?
Although we want to make the most of our Internet service while we are at home, there is no doubt that we must change our habits of use. Especially if you are not the only one in a house or apartment. You want to study, someone else has to work and another, perhaps, wants to see some episodes of a series on Netflix. In these times, it is possible to be able to use the Internet services in the way we want, but we must know when we can do certain activities online.
How Netflix allows you to access movies and series in the best possible quality
In order for you to watch Netflix content from any device, it needs to go through a process of conversion to a compatible format, this is called encryption . This process is essential so that a large part of the devices available today can be compatible with the platform. Netflix is compatible with more than 2,000 devices and practically all of these have a particular format. So, if you are viewing any content from the platform, you are doing it in the best possible quality considering the features of your device. Remember that we can download the application on a variety of devices compatible with Android, iOS and smart TVs.
On the other hand, the streaming services giant has to create optimized files with movies and series, for different network speeds available. So this is another parameter to consider when using the platform. If you have very high speed Internet access, the quality will be much better , because Netflix will be able to assign you a higher bitrate and be able to view the content in 4K (if available), but if you have a reduced Internet speed, you will only be able to see content in Full HD, HD and even SD. One more factor to keep in mind is that the quality also varies according to the plan you are paying for: higher cost plans ensure much higher resolutions (4K) than cheaper ones.
At the start of the most important part of this cycle – the streaming one – Netflix uses its own Content Delivery System (CDN) to ensure the transmission of multimedia content quickly and smoothly. Said CDN is called OC (Open Connect) .
When the user enters the streaming application from their device, any activity that the user performs within it becomes requests managed by Amazon Web Services. Jeff Bezos’ company is one of Netflix’s great allies, the requests we are referring to can be logins, home pages, user histories, billing, customer support and much more. So whenever you want to play content on Netflix, the application starts working with processes that determine the best CDN (OC Open Interconnect) , the best format and bitrate. After this, the video begins to play from an OCA (Open Connect Appliance), which is part of the CDN we mentioned.
Effectively managing high traffic
Who would have thought, our Internet usage habits have changed significantly due to the Coronavirus. There are people who think that the Internet, in general, is a system made up of a single machine and that it manages all traffic. However, the Internet is a huge set of data centers and content delivery networks that manage to communicate with each other through routers that have different ASs (Autonomous Systems). Such communication is possible through a wide range of companies that have these capabilities.
We must keep in mind that despite the fact that various online services run on virtual machines or servers, the Internet is basically a huge physical network. And for this physical network to function properly, it must be determined through various technical studies in which areas the highest level of traffic will originate, in addition to determining where the data will travel . All that information helps to better understand where to establish greater network capacities over time.
Fortunately, however, many of these popular companies have the necessary infrastructure to support a certain increase in demand for their services. These spend a large part of the time performing detailed monitoring tasks of the great increase in internet traffic patterns, that is, how much bandwidth users demand at different times. This has been primarily because teleworking is taking place in millions of homes around the world, and that transition from office to home has taken less time than thought. More than ever, homes are responsible for much of the high traffic these weeks.
Reduce quality to avoid congestion
Anyway, entertainment service providers like Netflix have taken action especially in Europe. These consist of the reproduction of content in standard quality. Why would they do that? Beyond the mere avoidance of bottlenecks in traffic running through the platform, there are other reasons. Those responsible for the streaming platform, for example, know that there are much more important needs to be met, especially if we are talking about health and virtual education. Services much more essential than access to entertainment should be a priority in terms of accessibility.
Can you imagine how much bandwidth is required for the transmission of high-quality audiovisual content? In addition to the fact that, as we mentioned, Netflix supports more than 2,000 devices of all kinds. The operating scheme discussed above are processes that are repeated billions of times around the world. And now that more people have this streaming platform as a way to entertain themselves, that bottleneck in the network has more and more risks of being generated.
An important detail is that, Netflix has not reduced the resolution to standard quality (SD), but can still be seen in 4K and Full HD resolution without any problem. There are countries in Europe that have asked Netflix and other streaming platforms to lower their quality because their networks are saturated, however, in Spain we are still far from being saturated, as is the case in these other countries.
And you, what do you think of this situation? Will everything go back to “normal”? Or are we practically treading new times, new habits, new ways of doing things?
