Scale Your Video-on-Demand Platform: A Practical Guide Using DigitalOcean Droplets
Want to build your own Netflix? This guide dives into creating and scaling a video-on-demand (VOD) platform using DigitalOcean Droplets. Learn how to deliver a seamless streaming experience to your users without breaking the bank. We'll cover everything from setting up your initial server to handling massive traffic spikes.
Why Build a Video-on-Demand Platform?
Building your own VOD platform opens a world of possibilities. It's perfect for:
- Content creators: Reach a wider audience and monetize your videos directly.
- Educators: Deliver online courses and training materials effectively.
- Businesses: Enhance customer engagement with video content and build brand loyalty.
Overcome Common VOD Challenges with DigitalOcean
Scaling a VOD platform presents unique hurdles. DigitalOcean Droplets offer a solution to:
- Buffer-free streaming: Ensure high-quality video playback.
- Handle high traffic: Manage concurrent users without downtime.
- Efficient storage: Effectively manage storage and bandwidth needs.
- Cost-effective scaling: Meet growing demand without excessive costs.
Prerequisites: What You Will Need to Get Started
Before diving in, make sure you have the following:
- DigitalOcean Account: To deploy your Droplets.
- Next.js Knowledge (Optional): If you want to build a custom frontend (or use our template). You can fork and clone this video-on-demand repository to test it out.
What are DigitalOcean Droplets and How Do They Work?
A DigitalOcean Droplet is a virtual server, or a Linux-based virtual machine (VM), running on DigitalOcean’s cloud infrastructure. It functions as your own virtual server, either standalone or as part of a cloud-based setup. Each droplet includes CPU, RAM, and SSD storage.
VOD Platform Architecture: The Basics
Our VOD application has a simple structure: a Next.js frontend, a DigitalOcean server, and clients accessing the content. Here's the process:
- User Access: Users access the application through browsers or mobile devices.
- Single Droplet Handling: All requests are managed by a single DigitalOcean droplet.
- Droplet Components: This droplet runs a Next.js application to serve the frontend and API, and also stores the videos.
This approach is less complicated than large platforms' infrastructure, which utilizes servers across different regions. We will discuss upgrading the droplet for more users and faster video processing later.
Step-by-Step: Deploying Your Next.js-Based VOD Platform
Let's deploy the VOD platform built with Next.js onto a DigitalOcean Droplet:
- Fork and Clone the Repository: Start by forking and cloning the repo from GitHub. Then, in Settings, add the SSH key under Deploy keys that you generated using the command
ssh-keygen. - Create a Droplet: Create a basic $12 droplet to host the application.
- Connect and Update: Connect to the Droplet using
ssh root@ipaddressand run the following commands:
sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y
curl -fsSL https://deb.nodesource.com/setup_18.x | sudo -E bash -
sudo apt install -y nodejs nginx
# Install PM2 for process management
sudo npm install -g pm2
- Configure Nginx: Configure Nginx using the commands below:
sudo nano /etc/nginx/sites-available/video-on-demand
Add this configuration:
server {
listen 80;
server_name yourip;
location / {
proxy_pass http://localhost:3000;
proxy_http_version 1.1;
proxy_set_header Upgrade $http_upgrade;
proxy_set_header Connection 'upgrade';
proxy_set_header Host $host;
proxy_cache_bypass $http_upgrade;
}
}
- Enable the Site: Enable the site with these commands
sudo ln -s /etc/nginx/sites-available/video-on-demand /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/
sudo nginx -t && sudo systemctl restart nginx
- Clone and Set Up the Repository: Clone the GitHub repository. Use the SSH link to run these commands:
# Set up application
git clone [email protected]:Haimantika/video-on-demand.git
cd frontend
npm install
npm run build
- Run with PM2: Start the app using PM2, a process manager.
# Start with PM2
cd /var/www/video-on-demand/frontend
pm2 start npm --name "video-on-demand" -- start
pm2 save
pm2 startup
How to Scale Your DigitalOcean Video Platform for Growth
Now, let's explore scaling strategies to handle increased traffic and uploads. Remember Netflix's Mike Tyson vs. Jake Paul fight issues? Server configuration is critical to avoid buffering and crashes.
1. Load Balancing: Distribute Traffic Effectively
Adding a load balancer is the first step in scaling. It distributes incoming traffic across multiple servers, providing a single entry point. Follow the tutorial How to Create Regional Load Balancers to add a load balancer. Benefits includes better traffic management, improved response times, SSL termination and health monitoring.
2. Vertical Scaling: Increase Server Resources
Vertical scaling means upgrading your existing droplet to a larger size. You can increase CPU power, RAM, and disk I/O. This improves upload processing and handles high traffic volume. Vertical scaling is better at handling large file uploads and faster response times for library access.
Benchmarking: Basic vs. Premium Droplets
Let's benchmark the application on two DigitalOcean droplet sizes to see performance differences. We'll compare performance on:
- Regular Intel (1 vCPU/2 GB): $12/month
- Premium Intel (2 vCPUs/4 GB): $32/month
To learn how to resize a droplet, you can follow the tutorial on how to resize a droplet for vertical scaling.
We'll use these metrics:
- CPU performance (sysbench)
- Disk performance (fio)
- Network speed (speedtest-cli)
- Concurrent user load (Apache Benchmark)
- Time to first byte (TTFB)
CPU Performance Test (sysbench)
This measures the server’s processing power and efficiency for handling computational tasks. Use the commands below:
sudo apt update && sudo apt install -y sysbench
sysbench cpu run --threads=4 --time=30
| Metric | Basic Intel ($12) | Premium Intel ($32) | Improvement |
|---|---|---|---|
| Events per second | 413.50 | 958.68 | 2.32x |
| Total events (30s) | 12,408 | 28,766 | 2.32x |
| Average latency | 9.64ms | 4.16ms | ~57% faster response time |
| 95th percentile latency | 14.21ms | 10.27ms | 28% better stability |
| Max latency | 22.63ms | 33.53ms | Higher peak, but avg is better |
| Thread fairness (stddev) | 1.87 | 115.63 | Premium distributes work better |
The premium droplet is ~2.3x faster in CPU performance and has a 57% lower average response time.
Disk Performance Test (fio)
Evaluates storage read/write speeds and IOPS for video upload and storage. To do a disk performance test, use the following commands:
sudo apt install -y fiofio --name=randrw --rw=randrw --bs=4k --size=1G --numjobs=4 --runtime=60s
| Metric | Basic Droplet (1 vCPU) | Premium Droplet (2 vCPUs) | Improvement |
|---|---|---|---|
| Read Speed | 21.9 MiB/s (22.9 MB/s) | 38.9 MiB/s (40.8 MB/s) | ~77% Faster |
| Write Speed | 21.9 MiB/s (22.9 MB/s) | 39.0 MiB/s (40.9 MB/s) | ~78% Faster |
| IOPS (Avg) | 1414.82 | 2501.28 | ~76.7% Higher |
| Latency (Avg μs) | 9.64 ms | 4.16 ms | ~57% Lower (Better) |
| Disk Utilization | 32.59% | 61.01% | More resource utilization in Premium |
Network Speed Test (speedtest-cli)
This tests upload/download speeds and latency for video streaming. Commands to use:
sudo apt install -y speedtest-cli
speedtest-cli
| Metric | Basic intel | Premium intel | Improvement |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ping | 3.398 ms | 2.019 ms | ~40.6% Lower (Better) |
| Download Speed | 1449.83 Mbit/s | 4976.82 Mbit/s | ~243% or 3.4x faster |
| Upload Speed | 1191.60 Mbit/s | 2495.69 Mbit/s | ~109% or 2x faster |
The premium droplet has higher upload and download speeds, resulting in better streaming.
Conclusion: Building Your VOD Platform with DigitalOcean Droplets
By following this guide, you can build and scale your own video-on-demand platform using DigitalOcean Droplets. You can efficiently deliver content, handle high traffic, and provide a superior user experience by choosing the right droplet size and employing load balancing. Start building your VOD platform today and bring your vision to life!