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Design a Video Streaming Service

Build a global video platform supporting YouTube-scale traffic with adaptive streaming, content distribution, and real-time analytics.

System Scale: 2B hours watched daily, 500 hours uploaded per minute, 50M+ concurrent viewers, <2s video start time globally with <0.5% rebuffering ratio.

Q: What's the expected scale in terms of users and content?
A: Let's target YouTube scale: 2 billion hours watched daily, 500 hours uploaded per minute, 50M+ concurrent viewers during peak times.
💡 This massive scale drives our architecture decisions around global CDN requirements, distributed transcoding pipelines, and horizontal scaling patterns.
Q: What video quality levels and formats should we support?
A: Support adaptive bitrate streaming from 360p to 4K with multiple codecs: H.264 for compatibility, H.265/VP9 for efficiency, and AV1 for future optimization.
💡 Multiple quality levels require 5x storage multiplication factor but enable smooth streaming across different network conditions and device capabilities.
Q: Do we need live streaming capabilities or just video-on-demand?
A: Both - 95% video-on-demand with full processing pipeline, and 5% live streaming with <3 second latency for real-time events.
💡 Live streaming requires separate architecture with real-time transcoding, RTMP ingest, and WebRTC/low-latency HLS distribution.
Q: What are the performance requirements for video start time and reliability?
A: Video start time <2 seconds globally, rebuffering ratio <0.5%, 99.9% streaming availability with graceful degradation.
💡 Sub-2 second start time requires aggressive CDN caching, predictive prefetching, and optimized video segment delivery.
Q: What content features beyond basic playback do we need?
A: User uploads, search and discovery, recommendations, comments/likes, content moderation, DRM for premium content, and analytics.
💡 These features require separate microservices for metadata management, ML recommendation engines, and real-time analytics processing.
Q: What are the geographic and regulatory requirements?
A: Global platform with data residency compliance, content filtering by region, GDPR/CCPA privacy controls, and localized CDN distribution.
💡 Global scale requires 200+ CDN edge locations, regional data centers, and compliance-aware content routing.
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Interview Practice Questions

Practice these open-ended questions to prepare for system design interviews. Think through each scenario and discuss trade-offs.

1

Global Live Streaming Platform: Design a Twitch-scale live streaming platform supporting 10M+ concurrent streams with interactive features like chat, donations, subscriber-only streams, and real-time viewer engagement. Address ultra-low latency requirements and global distribution.

2

Short-Form Video Platform: Build a TikTok-like platform with vertical videos, algorithmic feed, real-time video effects, social features, and personalized recommendations. Handle billions of daily video uploads and views with sophisticated content discovery algorithms.

3

Enterprise Video Conferencing: Design an enterprise video conferencing system supporting 1000+ participants per meeting with screen sharing, recording, breakout rooms, and enterprise security. Address bandwidth optimization and cross-platform compatibility.

4

Educational Video Platform: Build a video learning platform with interactive transcripts, chapter navigation, note-taking, progress tracking, offline download, and adaptive learning paths. Support both live classes and on-demand content with advanced analytics.

5

Sports Broadcasting Platform: Design a sports streaming platform with multiple camera angles, real-time statistics overlay, social viewing features, and premium pay-per-view events. Handle traffic spikes during major events and provide ultra-low latency for live betting integration.

6

Video Content Creation Studio: Build a cloud-based video editing and production platform with collaborative editing, asset management, AI-powered tools, real-time collaboration, and integration with distribution channels. Support professional workflows and team collaboration.