Netflix Streaming Architecture Diagram
A high-level Netflix-style streaming architecture: CDN, encoding pipeline, playback services, personalization, and observability.
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 is a high-level reference diagram based on common industry patterns (not Netflix’s internal blueprint). Use it as a starting point for interviews and system design discussions.
The big picture
A streaming system usually splits into four lanes:
- Content pipeline (ingest → transcode → package)
- Delivery (CDN edge caching + origin)
- Playback services (auth, manifests, DRM, telemetry)
- Intelligence (recommendations, personalization, experimentation)
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 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 the complexity hides)
Encoding is where you pay the cost once so delivery becomes cheap. The pipeline creates multiple renditions (240p → 4K), packages them into HLS/DASH, and stores segments in object storage.
Design this lane with clear SLAs: time-to-availability for new content, retries for failed jobs, and idempotent steps so you can safely resume work.
CDN vs Origin
Your CDN should serve most traffic from edge caches. The origin stays protected so it doesn’t melt under load.
- Signed URLs / tokens to prevent hotlinking
- Rate limiting and bot protection
- Origin bandwidth kept small via caching strategy
Observability is part of the product
At Netflix-scale, quality is measured in milliseconds and rebuffer events. Track startup time, bitrate switches, CDN hit ratio, error rates, and device-specific failures.
What to remix next
- Add multi-region failover and disaster recovery
- Add DRM + license server flow
- Add live streaming (low latency)