Video streaming Infrastructure for

TV channels & Online Broadcasters

Frequently Asked Questions

• What do you provide for streams protection?

  We have token, geo loc and soon DRM will be available too. 

  Streaming Platform, CDN, Cloud, Storage, DDOS Protection and DNS are our own services of Gcore developed and maintained by us, so it is possible to make any settings and integrations along the entire video management path:
  
  

  • Ingest – Receiving of RTMP/S and SRT, or direct connection in Data Centers to get multicast 
  • Transcode – Encoding from SD to 4K/8K 60fps H264/HEVC/AV1
  • Analysis – Machine Learning algorithms for video and audio processing and analysis
  • Delivery – Low latency CDN delivery inside the country or worldwide
  • Playback – Playback on user devices

  Content protection is organized on several layers:
  
  

  1. Link protection during delivery
     
     
     • Country access policy – Control access to content for specified countries.
     • Referer access policy – Control access to content for specified domain names.
     • Secure token – The option allows configuring access with tokenized URLs generated with the MD5 algorithm. It makes impossible to access content without a valid (unexpired) hash key. https://gcore.com/docs/streaming-platform/extra-features/protect-your-content-with-temporary-links-and-secure-tokens
     • IP access policy – Control access to content for specified IP ranges.
     • User agents policy – Control access to content for specified user agents.
       
       
  2. Video encryption during packaging
     
     
     • AES encryption – Encrypt video for each user on server side and decrypt on player side. It makes difficult for anyone to intercept and decode the information. https://gcore.com/docs/streaming-platform/video-hosting/protect-your-videos-with-the-aes-128-encryption/
     • DRM (in backlog) – Digital Rights Management using FairPlay, PlayReady, Widevine.

• Do you provide P2P (Peer-to-Peer) service?

  Gcore has no P2P content delivery feature today. This is because Gcore’s CDN has huge 110+ Tbps network capacity.

  CDN video delivery is typically considered better than P2P (Peer-to-Peer) video delivery for several reasons:
  
  

  1. End-user care: P2P use both way for download and upload content, thus users should pay attention for uploading huge amount of content to other users – this affects additional user’s traffic, which may be paid, especially on mobile tariffs. On the other hand, CDN uses dedicated servers to deliver content for downloading only, which can be more cost-effective in the long run.
  2. Reliable performance: CDN video delivery offers reliable performance since it is based on a network of geographically distributed servers that are specifically designed to deliver content to end-users quickly and efficiently. On the other hand, P2P video delivery relies on the availability of other users who have already downloaded the content, which may not always be consistent.
  3. Better user experience: CDN video delivery generally provides a better user experience since it offers faster load times, lower latency, and fewer buffering issues compared to P2P delivery. 
  4. Security: CDN video delivery is more secure than P2P delivery since it relies on authenticated servers to deliver content, which ensures that content is delivered from trusted sources. 
  5. Quality of service: CDN video delivery provides better quality of service since it can adapt to the user's network conditions and deliver content in the appropriate format and quality.

  Overall, while P2P video delivery can be effective in certain scenarios, CDN video delivery is generally considered to be a more reliable, efficient, and secure solution for delivering video content to end-users.

  Also, another way of content delivery is eCDN (parallel connection of P2P together with CDN), and we can recommend parthers for using that scheme.

• What’s the compatibility of Gcore’s player?

  Our player can be used inside browsers. HLS/DASH streams can be provided to use native players inside devices (TV boxes). We can provide code (open source). Gcore offers direct links to video and streams to play on any platform, and offers HTML5 web player for web browsers.

  List of platforms for playback (but not limited to):
  
  

  • Windows 
  • MacOS 
  • IOS 
  • Android 
  • SmartTV Tizen 
  • SmartTV Webos 
  • Android TV 
  • Apple TV 
  • Roku 
  • etc

  These and other platforms also have proprietary or open-source players, so we provide direct links to streams that can be played in these players. Example of more web players are here https://gcore.com/blog/top-7-html5-players-to-integrate-streaming-into-your-website/.

  To get more info about Gcore’s player please look at the next question. 

• How can your player be integrated with for e.g. WordPress?

  Via iFrame and leverage API/library to control. (but it is not an SDK).

  Gcore’s web player is built using native HTML5 technology. It works in all modern browsers on desktop and mobile platforms. Has the capability to watch VOD, seek the video, watch Live streams in low latency mode, to rewind the stream, multi-player with separate streams, branding, etc.  
  
  Player has simple integration as iframe to the web page, with capability to control it via javascript API. https://gcore.com/docs/streaming-platform/api/player-api-tutorial

  API events which be caught on ready, on play, on pause, on seek, on resize, on fullscreen, on volumechange, on error, on ended, on stop.

  For native non-web platforms, we offer open-source projects on Github with detailed information on how to code and manage the streaming. I.e. articles – https://github.com/G-Core/ios-demo-live-streaming, https://github.com/G-Core/android-demo-vod-hosting, etc.

• What is the final latency delivered by the player?

  Low latency DASH -> ~4sec (End to End -> from Ingest to End User). What is the size chunks?  

  Gcore Streaming Platform and CDN offer innovative ultra-low latency delivery to the end user of 1-5 seconds via HTTP from the box:
  
  

  1. Own solution for low latency packaging and delivery LL-HLS and LL-DASH in CMAF format. 
     
  2. Own solution for ultra-low latency transferring HESP format.

  Streaming Platform and CDN are adapted to cache and transfer video chunks and micro-segments as quickly as possible. Segmented Caching feature allows CDN return video micro-segments instantly without waiting for the end of the entire video segment from origin. Feature was originally developed for CDN delivery and involves scaling to any volume.

  From 2021 Gcore is member of the HESP Alliance, which offers innovative technology of delivering high-resolution video to the end-user with a delay of 1-2 seconds only on traditional HTTP protocol via cheap CDN traffic. https://www.hespalliance.org/news/hesp-alliance-welcomes-g-core-labs-as-new-member  

  From 2021 Gcore is member of the SRT Alliance, which offer innovative technology of transfering raw video stream from venues to cloud video platfrom with delay of miliseconds using public internet. https://srtalliance.org/members/

  For out-dated devices Gcore Streaming offers “Reduced latency” with delay of ±9 seconds only, instead of traditional HLS broadcasting of 30-50 seconds. This is achieved thanks to our own ingester and packager, which instantly process and return manifest and chunks up to 2 seconds long.

  More details in the article “Gcore: Trends in Delivering Low Latency Video”: https://www.streamingmedia.com/Articles/ReadArticle.aspx?ArticleID=143793.

• Is it possible to ingest one single stream with different output with different geo protection / for different customers?

  Gcore has the ability to receive video streams in different ways and multiply+scale it:
  
  

  • Multiply the stream on ingesting – restream RTMP to outside services and platforms 
  • Multiply the stream on processing – transcoding, recording, encrypting, and CV/ML analysis 
  • Multiply the stream on transferring to CDN – transferring a single origin to many different CDN resources with separate set of rules  
  • Scale the stream on deliverying via CDN – caching and the ability to view millions of viewers

  Thus a single stream can be multiplied and delivered using different geo-restrictions.

• Can you protect an iFrame with a token as well?

  Via referrer access policy. To maintain a high download speed, all static or dynamic resources are cached. Rules can also be applied for this:
  
  

  • Cache by pattern, ie. for tokenized .js files 
  • Query-strings and cookies can be ignored 
  • More details are available here https://gcore.com/docs/cdn/cdn-resource-options/cache/ignore-the-set-cookie-or-query-string-parameters-when-caching-content-on-cdn-servers

  Gcore is a client-oriened company. This approach emphasizes understanding the client's requirements, goals, and tailoring development process accordingly to ensure that the final product meets the client's expectations.  

  By default Gcore’s web player has no tokenization, so this feature can be implemented by:
  
  

  • Protect live streams and videos with temporary links  – https://gcore.com/docs/streaming-platform/extra-features/protect-your-content-with-temporary-links-and-secure-tokens
  • Security. AES-128 encryption for VOD – https://gcore.com/docs/streaming-platform/video-hosting/protect-your-videos-with-the-aes-128-encryption
  • or be developed for the client

• Is it possible to use an external statistics solution (integrated into the player)?

  It is possible. Gcore Streaming Platform collects and aggregate full raw statistics of views: it doesn’t matter which web player, or native player, or proprietary player, or external statistics system is used. The number of viewers and minutes of views are always available.

  In the context of VOD and Live streaming, the "Statistics" section of Gcore’s player provides detailed insights about the audience and their preferences. This section displays key metrics such as the number of viewers, their respective web browsers and operating systems, geographical locations, and popular videos (limited to the "Video" section only). Furthermore, the URLs of pages that host a player with the video content are also shown.

  The statistic data is updated every five minutes, ensuring that the displayed information is accurate and up-to-date.

  The collected data is stored for a period of one year, allowing for historical analysis and trend identification. This information can be used to inform strategic decisions related to content creation, marketing efforts, and audience engagement.

  Statistics is available via API too – https://api.gcore.com/docs/streaming#tag/Statistics. So, using an API it can be integrated with any other statistics collecting or analyzing tool.

• Do you provide an API to for automation (not using Dashboard)?

  Yes. Streaming Platform is a global highload video streaming service powered by cutting-edge technologies.

  Our tech engine offers a wide range of features such as Low Latency Live Streaming, Ultra Low Latency Live Streaming, WebRTC video calls, Machine Learning and Computer Vision, CDN video broadcasting, CSAI and SSAI ad serving, large-scale transcoding, video security, and analytics.

  Our infrastructure is designed to handle the demands of streaming video at scale, supporting over 100+ million viewers and beyond. All actions can be done and automated via public API: 
  
  

  • live streams,  
  • restreams,  
  • video hosting,  
  • playlists,  
  • players,  
  • ads,  
  • statistics,  
  • video processing using computer vision and machine learning methods 

  You can find API-documentation here https://api.gcore.com/docs/streaming.

• Is there a timer to allow user to play only AFTER the timer expires?

  Currently we don't have this feature. We can develop/add upon the request.

  Gcore’s web player is synchronized with the backend, which allows automatically inform the player about the start of a broadcast. The user does not have to reload the page. Everything works automatically, using web sockets.

  The player is the company's own development, so it is possible to make any changes to the code at any time, unlike external pre-prepared solutions. There is no visualization of the timer now, but this function is in backlog already.

  Example of skinned UI according to another client’s brandbook and user’s localization:

  

• Is it possible to add different ads depending on the location?

  CSAI (Client-Side Ad Insertion) and SSAI (Server-Side Ad Insertion) are two different methods of delivering video advertisements in internet video content.

  CSAI involves downloading the video content and ad separately, and then stitching them together on the client-side (i.e. the user's device) before playing the content. In this method, the ad request is sent to the ad server by the client (i.e. the user's device) and the ad is downloaded, buffered and stitched together with the video content before being played back.

  SSAI involves inserting the ad directly into the video content on the server-side before delivering it to the client. The ad is then stitched directly into the video content on the server-side before being delivered to the client. This method is more efficient and less prone to ad-blocking as the ads are inserted into the video stream itself. This feature is experimental. 

  For both methods Streaming Platform set the place when to ingest/play the ad only. Storage and rotation of advertising is carried out by separate external specialized advertising services. I.e. Google Ads.

  So, yes, it’s possible to add different ads depending the user location applying external ad service rules.

• Is it possible to aggregate multiple streams into one stream for monitoring purposes?

  Low latency streaming and web player caching allow to display several live players on the screen at the same time. One of our clients, Wargaming, displayed 8-16 control streams on the monitor.

  But for professional monitoring, we recommend using special applications that allow you to output and operate such streams based on the needs and job responsibilities of a video director. For example, vMix, OBS, or similar. Streaming Platform can multiply and restream RTMP/SRT streams into those apps.

• Is it possible to integrate AWS S3 into your VoD setup? How does it work?

  Gcore Cloud has own S3 cloud storage with mechanisms including: data redundancy, automatic backup and recovery, and fault tolerance. Cloud storage is available in different countries all over the world. Additionally, Gcore’s S3 has the best connectivity to CDN-edges.

  Streaming Platform uses it natively as origin to store all transcoded versions of videos and live recordings.  

  Yes, by request of clients we can connect an external S3 for video storage. It is carried out by separate agreement, with an assessment of risks and the development of technical conditions for network connectivity and latency requirements. 

• What are the pricing plans?

  All resources are calculated, consumed volumes are available in the billing section. Gcore Streaming Platform and CDN can offer traditional pricing per gigabyte and alternative per minute. This is a matter of agreement.

• Do you have DDoS Protection?

  Our security suite includes Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) protection, along with Bot and Web Application Firewall (WAF) protection.

  Our DDoS protection is integrated with CDN and specifically designed to guard against large-scale attacks that can cause websites and applications to become inaccessible or experience significant downtime. In addition to DDoS protection, we also offer Bot protection services to identify and filter out malicious automated traffic, such as bots, crawlers, and scrapers.

  Furthermore, our Web Application Firewall (WAF) protection safeguards web applications from a wide range of cyber threats, including SQL injection, cross-site scripting, and other application-layer attacks.  In fact, we have successfully mitigated attacks with a magnitude of over 1 Tbit and dozens of millions of requests per second.

  Please look for details here:
  
  

  • https://gcore.com/blog/how-we-use-regular-expressions-in-xdp-for-packet-filtering/
  • https://gcore.com/blog/geoip-filtering/
  • https://gcore.com/blog/how-botnet-attacks-work-and-how-to-defend-against-them/

• Are there any peerings with Cloud providers available?

  Gcore is a rapidly growing content provider and relies on stable connections with short roundtrip times. We aim to provide customers with a first-class cloud infrastructure for computing, storing, protecting, and delivering content with delays of up to 30ms worldwide.

  Gcore Peering:
  
  

  • 180+ points of presence worldwide 
  • 14,000+ peering partners 
  • 110+ Tbps total network capacity 
  • 30 ms average response time worldwide

  Please look at full list of providers in countries of Africa, Asia Pacific, Australia, Europe, Middle East, North America, South America here https://gcore.com/internet-peering.

  Public information is available on PeeringDB site https://www.peeringdb.com/asn/199524.

  Gcore is the partner of the Equinix Platform, a cloud-based computing platform. It offers the capability to efficiently execute a multicloud approach by integrating various technological solutions into a flexible infrastructure. https://www.equinix.se/partners/partner-directory/g-core-labs.

• What is the workflow for new features/customization implementation?

  You will have your own pre-sales manager. 

  Usually, you will interact with the pre-sales manager to discuss specific needs and requirements. This may involve a detailed discussion of your business goals, problems you are trying to solve, and the functionality you need. Once the software is developed and tested, the development team will deploy it on prod. 

  Throughout the process, the client and development team will work closely together to ensure that the software meets requirements.

• What do you provide on the DVR feature?

  DVR (Digital Video Recorder, or Catch-Up) feature for live video allows viewers to pause, rewind, and fast-forward through a live video stream.

  Example of 4 hours DVR is provided here https://gcore.com/streaming-platform/features-demo/dvr/#straming_bl_anchor.

  The feature is enabled and configured for each selected stream separately, and can be managed by video editor in simple UI of control panel.

  Additionally, Gcore Streaming Platfrom allows to store up to 24 hours of video segments of stream on servers. This is possible thanks to own infrastructure and own server for packaging and caching of video segments. More information is here https://gcore.com/news/low-latency-broadcasts-can-now-be-rewound-24-hours/.

• Is it possible to relate life streams with VOD recording?

  Each file has required and optional fields. By default, when recording, the name of the translation is added to the file name of VOD.

  Additionally, it is possible to implement, upon request, saving information about the stream and other characteristics of the original stream in optional meta-information fields. 

• Is multipart upload supported by Gcore?

  Gcore Streaming Platform uploader supports TUS protocol. It’s a public protocol for uploading files from a client (such as a web browser or mobile app) to the server. One of the key features of TUS is its ability to resume interrupted file uploads, which can be particularly useful for large files or slow network connections.

  Overall, if the upload is interrupted for any reason (such as a network disconnect), the client can resume the upload from where it left off by simply re-uploading the chunk that was interrupted.

  This protocol is implemented on our server side, and in our control panel for web browsers. Also, you can implement TUS-client on your business backend-side to upload files directly from your own server.

• Are there SLA's available?

  Service Level Agreements is published on web site, please look at it here – https://gcore.com/legal.