Netflix Streaming Architecture Diagram
A high-level Netflix-style streaming architecture: CDN, encoding pipeline, playback services, personalization, and observability.
Key ideas
- Ingest + encode into multiple bitrates (ABR) so playback stays smooth on unstable networks.
- CDN edge caching handles the majority of traffic; origin services stay protected and scalable.
- Personalization and recommendations are separate systems that influence playback selection and UI.
- Observability (metrics, traces, logs) is a first-class dependency for reliability at scale.
Why this architecture matters
When you say ‘Netflix architecture’, what you’re really asking is: how do we reliably deliver huge video files to millions of devices while keeping startup time low and buffering rare.
This diagram is a high-level reference built from common industry patterns (not Netflix’s internal blueprint). Use it as a starting point for interviews, system design discussions, or to design your own streaming product.
The big picture
A streaming system usually splits into four major lanes:
- Content pipeline (ingest → transcode → package)
- Delivery (CDN edge caching + origin)
- Playback services (auth, session, manifests, DRM, telemetry)
- Intelligence (recommendations, personalization, experimentation)
The reason this separation works: each lane scales differently and fails differently.
What happens when a user presses Play
- The client requests a manifest (HLS/DASH).
- The manifest points to segment URLs on the CDN.
- The client downloads short segments (2–6s) at a bitrate chosen by ABR (adaptive bitrate) logic.
- Playback telemetry is continuously emitted (startup time, rebuffering, errors).
A key insight: you don’t stream one big file. You stream many small segments so you can adapt quality mid‑playback.
The encoding pipeline (where most complexity hides)
Encoding is where you pay the cost once so delivery becomes cheap:
- Create multiple renditions: 240p → 4K
- Package into HLS/DASH
- Store in object storage
- Publish metadata (title, language, audio tracks, subtitles)
If you’re designing this yourself, define clear SLAs for:
- new content availability time
- failed jobs + retries
- idempotency of pipeline steps
CDN vs Origin
Most requests should hit edge caches. Origins should be protected:
- sign URLs / tokens
- rate-limit abusive clients
- keep origin bandwidth small
What to remix next
Try remixing with one constraint at a time:
- ‘Add multi-region failover and disaster recovery’
- ‘Add DRM + license server flow’
- ‘Add live streaming (low latency)’
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Prompt used
Design Netflix-like video streaming architecture (CDN, encoding, personalization, observability).