VOD Zone FAQ

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What is a VOD Zone?

A VOD (Video on Demand) Zone is a Content Zone that allows for direct upload of video files to our media storage server via FTP or SFTP.

When do I want to use a VOD Zone?

To distribute video that has been pre-recorded.

What is the difference between a Live Zone and a VOD Zone?

VOD Zones are for pre-recorded video.  Live Zones are for streaming a real-time live event from an encoder. With VOD end-users will be able to play the file at anytime while, with a Live Zone the video is played as it is streamed.

Is setting up a VOD Zone provisioned in real time?

Yes, as you create a non-secure or secure zone from within Manage Zones -> VOD Zones management screen in your control panel. On creation the storage upload zone as well as all DNS records get provisioned in real-time and usually takes less then 3 minutes.

How do I access my VOD Zone?

We give each zone the ability to access the storage location by FTP or SFTP using regular computer software, or by using an online encoding service which uses ftp://username:password@storage_hostname for its connection file path.
On VOD Zone creation all customers will be given instructions to connect to a hostname URL like ftp.zonename.alias.netdna-cdn.com
username like zonename.alias
password which is generated by user on zone creation and which can be updated at anytime through the zone management screen inside the CDN control panel.

What are some good SFTP Clients?

• Windows: WinSCP
• Mac: Cyberduck
• Unix: scp

Why do you use SFTP vs. FTP?

The integrity and security of your files is a huge priority when using a CDN. SFTP is a secure and encrypted protocol which maximizes security and integrity over FTP.

What is the difference between RTMP and Pseudo Streaming?

• RTMP
  • RTMP is a real-time streaming protocol. Video packet size is smaller and delivered to end-user as consumed.
  • More secure than HTTP. Video streams have less of a chance to be “stolen”.
  • If people replay the video, the traffic is consumed again since it’s not in memory
  • Video is unwatchable if a user’s bandwidth is lower than the bitrate of the stream

• HTTP Pseudo Streaming
  • Simple, reliable and lightweight. Used by YouTube ®. Good if your videos are shorter than 10 minutes.
  • Once the video has been viewed, it is cached into the browser’s memory, and does not need to be downloaded on the next view.
  • On slow connections people can wait until a sufficient part of the stream is downloaded, and then hit the play button. When used with a flash player the video can be buffered before it starts to play.
  • HTTP Progressive Streaming is also called “pseudo streaming”, because it’s not a real-time streaming protocol. Pseudo streaming CDN URLs can be loaded directly into a browser window.

• Features shared by both RTMP and Pseudo Streaming
  • Rich in features. Support for slow motion, fast forward and bandwidth switching during playback.
  • A file uploaded to a normal VOD Zone can be played in both formats simultaneously depending on encoding.

How do I add more storage?

Storage is based on your package plan. All storage pricing can be found on our pricing pages. For all pre-paid bandwidth packages, storage is calculated, invoiced, and paid automatically each month based on usage, there is only a 100GB max storage limit per account for all storage zones allowed. For all monthly bandwidth and storage packages, only an upgrade to a higher package will add storage to an account. For Enterprise CDN accounts, storage is billed and calculated based on usage for each monthly contract renewal period and has no storage caps.

What formats can I deliver the video in?

Wowza Media Server 2 supports the following media file formats: FLV (Flash Video), MP4 (QuickTime container) and MP3 content (see table below for common file extensions). To play video on demand content, the proper prefix must be appended to the file name to create a stream name. For example to play the MP4  file *mycoolvideo.mov{*}use the stream name *mp4:mycoolvideo.mov*. The following table lists the more common file type prefixes (for a complete list consult the User’s Guide):

• flv:FLV (Flash Video – this is the default media type so the qualifier and the file extension can be omitted)
  • Example: “flv:mycoolvideo.flv”
• mp4:MP4 (QuickTime container – .mp4, .f4v, .mov, .m4v, .mp4a, .3gp, and .3g2)
  • Example: “mp4:mycoolvideo.mov”
• mp3:MP3 (.mp3
  • Example: “mp3:mycoolsong.mp3″
• smil: SMIL (XML files used to configure multi-bitrate streams – .smil)

Wowza Supported Media

Is Flowplayer supported?

Yes. Flowplayer is a partner of ours and we are their CDN provider as well. You can find out more information about Flowplayer by going to Flowplayer

Is JWPlayer supported?

Yes. all versions of JWPlayer are fully supported on our system. You can find out more about JWPlayer by going to JWPlayer

Are Secure Tokens Supported?

Yes, to have a secure token zone created you simply check the box on VOD Zone creation that says Secure Token. On creation you will be asked to agree and confirm to the monthly recurring charge applied to each secure token zone and billed monthly on your anniversary date until canceled through a formal email to billing(at)netdna.com .

Do you support referrer checking to minimize content leaching?

Please contact us to have this setup. If security is important to you, we encourage you to not use referrer checking, but rather RTMP streaming with secure tokens.

What do you use on the server side (web server) for VOD?

VOD Zones support both HTTP Pseudo Streaming and RTMP out of the box. All of our servers use only the most stable release.

• For HTTP Pseudo (Progressive Download) streaming we use Lighthttpd.
• For RTMP we use Wowza Media Server 2.X.

Can I insert pre-roll or post roll ads into my Video?

Yes. We recommend using FlowPlayer and OpenX if you do not currently have a solution.

Can I deliver videos to iPhones/iPods?

Yes. Please see the Wowza quick start document. We can stream through HTTP Live Streaming (HLS) to all iOS deveices by using a .m3u8 playlist wrapper for VOD files and Live Zone feeds. Compatibility will depend on the correct encoding format of your video and audio.

Do you support Quicktime and Silverlight?

Yes. Please see the Wowza quick start document. We can support streaming through Silverlight for both VOD and Live Streaming to most Silverlight video players. Compatibility will depend on the correct encoding format of your video and audio. 

Is multiple bit rate streaming supported?

Yes. Please see the Wowza quick start document. While our media server can’t do on the fly transcoding of a file to split a single file into different bitrates; a user can upload multiple versions of a VOD file to our media storage server for their VOD Zone or send multiple published streams to their Live Zone.

How long will it take files I just uploaded to my Push or VOD Zone to propagate to each edge location?

This stictly depends on which video cluster you signed up or had your VOD Zone created on. In general, inside the United States, you will typically see your file within 5 minutes to an hour after you upload your file to the network. For those visitors who are hitting an edge location outside the United States, you may see propagation times up to 24 hours depending on replication queue size and ordering. After upload the VOD file will instantly be available through your VOD Assets Manager, and will take time before the View URL and paths are accessible to the public for streaming.

How can I setup rsync to upload files to my VOD Zone?

Rsync is no longer supported, we now allow LFTP.

How can I setup LFTP to upload/synchronize files to my VOD Zone?

Please refer to our “LFTP How To“ Article for more information

My mp4 files will not play in RTMP, what is wrong?

Nothing is wrong. For any file other then FLV–for RTMP, you need to prefix the video URL “vod/zonename_alias/filename” with the file extension, for example “mp4:vod/netdna.company/myvideo.mp4″. The same technique works for other extensions.

Another reason why an MP4 will work on our HTTP Progressive Download (Pseudo Streaming) servers and not our RTMP media servers would be due to video encoding. In general mp4 files need to be encoded in h.264 video encoding, and use AAC audio. They must also have keyframes of no less then 2 seconds/60 frames applied in encoding (most common reason for a file not to play). There can’t be any fragmented mp4 encoding applied to the file as we can’t support this type of file encoding yet.

If you can use RTMP for the test file on Video Debug tool, then all is fine. Remember also we make RTMPTE available rtmpt://r.zonename.alias.netdna-cdn.com/play available for use to get through corporate firewals that might block RTMP’s standard 1935 port.

How can I see my videos playing from different PoPs?

Because we like to empower our customers and make our service as transparent as possible, we do have a video debug tool inside your control panel under your VOD Zone management page.

Go to Manage Zone -> Browse VOD Zones -> Choose the zone where your video is and then click on the Debug Tool button.

On the proceeding screen, choose the location you want to view the video file from, either Anycast (closest DC) or a specific datacenter location from the drop down menu. Then, choose your stream type: either Pseudo or RTMP (we will be adding RTMPT and other formats in the future). Lastly, choose your clip location in the form of filename.ext.

How do I create a secure token (Video)?

This can be done by going to your CDN Control panel and creating a normal VOD Zone. There will be a checkbox located on the page that will generate a secure token to be used during implementation. On check, you will be asked to agree to and accept the Secure Token billing terms. Secure Tokens are billed monthly recurring and remain active until a formal cancel notice is sent to billing(at)netdna.com . Failure to notify the billing department of the cancellation request for the add-on specifically will result in future recurring billing. Also note; that all add-ons used or not are non-refundable.

What is your maximum bitrate for streaming?

We don’t limit the maximum bitrate that can be allowed on a VOD file. However, we do recommend that the file be no greater then 700kbps as most end-users with slower connections will not be able to download the bitrate chunk for a bitrate higher then this. Most ISPs will also limit video streaming download speeds for their end-users connections as well. Bitrate levels go as follows; low = 300kbps or below, medium (web quality) = 500Kbps and High Definition (Web quality) = 700kbps, TV High Definition = 1000kbps+.