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Keep in mind that all but the business rules actually run in their own custom CDN nodes around the world, not in these cloud setups.
You have that backwards. Everything runs in AWS except serving raw video bits from very stripped down boxes in data centers around the world. Those boxes in the CDN do literally nothing but serve video files via https very quickly.
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You have that backwards. Everything runs in AWS except serving raw video bits from very stripped down boxes in data centers around the world. Those boxes in the CDN do literally nothing but serve video files via https very quickly.
Openconnect does not serve https it's http, although they are evaluating using https.
Is it just me, or is it a massive risk to have your entire infrastructure hosted by a company who is also one of your chief competitors?
Assume that Netflix has done the analysis and prefers AWS over other provides. The benefit can be framed like this - if Netflix does not use AWS, then Amazon Video has a strategic advantage in being the only one with access to the best platform. By using AWS, they remove that competitive advantage from Amazon Video.
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I've always found it totally bizarre. I just picture Bezos in his office, cackling to himself over Netflix' shortsightedness.
Do you have the same reaction to Apple buying processors from Samsung or Intel? Google buying operating systems from Microsoft or Apple? In each of those situations they've decided that level of risk is outweighed by the cost of trying to do everything in-house. Data centers are an expensive business to be in and Amazon can amortize their costs over a much larger base than Netflix. The thing to remember is that busin…
I'm not arguing that Amazon wouldn't benefit from making Prime Video a more interesting product. But finding ways to hamper your biggest competitor, who is fully dependent on your infrastructure, is definitely a way to make Prime Video more interesting. Perhaps I'm being paranoid. I guess I just find Bezos difficult to trust.
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Do you have the same reaction to Apple buying processors from Samsung or Intel? Google buying operating systems from Microsoft or Apple? In each of those situations they've decided that level of risk is outweighed by the cost of trying to do everything in-house. Data centers are an expensive business to be in and Amazon can amortize their costs over a much larger base than Netflix. The thing to remember is that busin…
Well, I suppose I don't have the same reaction to those other examples mainly because Amazon/Bezos have shown such a clear desire to capture/dominate market verticals and thus I'd never want to put myself at his mercy in a business situation. I also don't think those examples are perfect analogies for the Netflix-AWS dependency, though I certainly understand your point that businesses routinely rely upon the services…
I think the big counterbalance now is competition – raising prices on AWS would be a boon for e.g. Azure – but I definitely wouldn't want to bet against abuse if one of Microsoft, Google, Rackspace, etc. dropped out. I'm sure Netflix has pretty good forecasts for how much it'd cost to move operations elsewhere as long as a good option exists.