When it comes to choosing the best cloud video hosting provider for businesses, there is never a one-size-fits-for-all. Every streaming business has a set of unique requirements as far as video hosting is concerned. So, what can be the top requirements for streaming video hosting for businesses? Well, here are a few features that come in handy. But, first let’s understand what a cloud video streaming server is.
What is a Cloud Video Streaming Server?
Cloud streaming is a method for storing and delivering video content on the cloud using cloud servers instead of using on-premise servers. Cloud streaming with Software as a Service (SaaS) solution can greatly simplify the streaming process for broadcasters.
Cloud streaming lets you scale on-demand according to traffic spikes without having to worry about maintaining on-premise servers and other infrastructure. Also, there is no need to invest in the hardware itself upfront, so that your business is able to focus more on producing quality content rather than spending time in technical hassles.
Why Should you Opt for Cloud Video Hosting?
The complexity and sheer volume of online consumption demand sophisticated technology not every provider can build and maintain. Here comes the importance of cloud video hosting through cloud servers. Streaming video hosting platforms enable enterprises to store their video files in the cloud, easily organize this content, and seamlessly share videos across the Internet. Many enterprise-grade video platforms are capable of hosting both live streams and video on demand (VOD) content.
Features to look Out for in a Cloud Video Hosting Server
Encoding and Transcoding
A streaming server with Cloud video encoding converts video files to make them viewable by any media players, devices or web browsers and operating systems, using the power of the Cloud minus any storage costs.
You can encode videos fast and reach the multitude of Internet connected devices without investing in costly infrastructure. As against on-premise servers, transcoding in the cloud scales instantly according to demand, giving you the power of large encoding clusters without burning a hole in your pocket.
To know more about cloud video encoding and on-premise encoding read our blog Cloud Video Encoding vs On-Premise : Pros, Cons and Beyond.
Unlimited Storage
Designed to support exponential data growth, a cloud video hosting server makes it possible to store practically limitless amounts of data, that too, in a cost-effective manner. Cloud servers are architecturally designed in terms of data archiving and backup, enabling you to get access to deleted files as well. Growth constraints is a severe limitation of on-premise servers, but thanks to cloud storage, capacity is virtually unlimited.
Multiple CDN enabled Cloud Video Hosting Server
The sheer consumption of video demands a stable and reliable CDN for maximum outreach. A cloud video hosting server will help you deliver your videos across the world to your viewers in lightning fast speeds, without the trouble of buffering. Go for a server that offers an expansive global network of data centers that can deliver dynamic content over the fastest and most reliable private backbone links.
Nowadays, rich streaming content demands better performance from content providers, such as lower latency, improved load times, minimal disruptions and higher transfer speed. However, in such a demanding scenario, a single CDN is often prone to suffer from problems such as outages, vulnerability to DDoS attacks, disruptions, etc. Having multi CDN inbuilt, during network congestion, peer-to-peer content delivery takes the charge by reducing the number of HTTP requests that the server has to handle. The result is consistent higher quality streams for all viewers and enhanced scalability and geographic coverage.
Scale as you Go
As a VoD channel owner, you are challenged to meet unexpected traffic spikes without sacrificing the user experience. With a cloud server, you can customize your capacity on demand in the public cloud. You can scale VoD content as your data volumes increase or dial down capacity as and when necessary. All this is possible in just a few minutes. The possibility of scaling up and down as when required in a cloud video server enables you to confidently run business-critical workloads seamlessly without a hefty amount of upfront investment.
5 Popular cloud video platforms in 2021
Vdocipher
Vdocipher provides a one-stop video streaming platform with secure video hosting features. It provides you with an encrypted HTML5 player and complete video hosting features. You can integrate it with your own websites or applications. It caters to eLearning platforms, media, and all other types of businesses. Helping them host their video content securely.
They provide plugins, APIs, and SDKs for smooth integration. Hollywood grade DRMs, viewer-specific dynamic watermarking features, and other licensing technologies are a boon for your piracy concerns. With its own smart html5 video player and AWS-backed infrastructure for scalability, this is a go-to solution for businesses looking to host their content with utmost security.
Vimeo
Vimeo is a New York-based cloud video company with features like video sharing, and hosting. The live streaming setup sets it apart from other similar platforms. Basic functionalities to premium features like privacy control, analytics, and customizations are accessible to users at different pricing plans. These offerings are integrable with the user platform.
Wistia
Wistia caters to the needs of marketing professionals by providing them with advanced features to utilize the potential of their video. It provides analytics tools and marketing software to help businesses to launch campaigns. Brands and businesses can utilize this as an extensive marketing tool.
Brightcove
Brightcove is a Boston-based cloud video platform that offers on-demand and lives video streaming with a focus on monetization and marketing. It offers its users enterprise-level cloud hosting solutions that they can integrate into their websites and applications.
Youtube
With a user base of more than two billion, watching over a billion hours of video on a daily basis, youtube is one of the highly viewed cloud video hosting platforms. It has videos catering to different categories from learning, movies, and live streaming to creators of different genres uploading loads of content. Targeted ads and collaborating with different brands help make it a major source of revenue for a lot of businesses.
