A media streaming site needs a streaming server to give you access to its content. The job of such a server is to access the content from its storage and deliver the audios and videos to the users who have requested these.
The quality of your website’s video and audio streaming directly depends upon the power and efficiency of the server that is hosting the files. These servers are mainly used for live streaming or VOD purposes for streaming sites like Amazon, Netflix, Hulu, etc.
With more inclination of people towards streaming movies, shows, and other content online, the need for fast and powerful streaming servers has become so great and it is only projected to become more and more in the coming years.
Now that you know why a good streaming server is necessary if you want your website to host video streaming, Let’s take a look at some of the steps you can take to ensure you end up with a server that is both fast and reliable.
1. Consider the Bandwidth Type
Most streaming servers offer two kinds of bandwidths namely Metered and Unmetered Bandwidth.
The unmetered bandwidth allows you to send an unlimited amount of data through the network to or from the server.
There is no restriction of how many GBs or TBs of data you can transfer which makes continuous streaming possible. This is especially helpful if your site is offering high-quality live streaming or VOD services.
If, however, you are 100% certain that your site’s data usage will not exceed the fixed bandwidth offered by the hosting providers, you can go for metered bandwidth since it costs less.
2. Ask for The Site Backup Policy
It is of most importance that the content you host on the server is regularly backed up in case the server is compromised or gets attacked by elements like hackers, viruses, and ransomware, etc.
If your service providers do not offer site backup it can potentially make you prone to a huge financial loss. Your site may suddenly shut down and with no backup, you will have to start from scratch which takes up a lot of your time and energy.
To make sure that the server is performing as per its capabilities, you can use the Server Status Checker to analyse the performance of the server.
So, we urge you to always make sure that your streaming server providers have some sort of backup policy to keep your site running at all times.
3. Storage Services
Storage space is among the main reasons which can make a streaming site good or bad. Videos usually take up huge space as compared to images and texts and thus, the need for a server that is able to handle high quality and large-sized videos is great.
You can ask the provider what kind of storage medium they offer. Is it SSD (solid-state drive) or the traditional spinning hard drives? The former is a bit more expensive but provides extremely fast streaming.
However, if you are short on budget and you still want relatively fast streaming speed with satisfactory video quality, you can use the traditional hard drives.
For a fast-reading and continues speed, you also need something called RAID (redundant array of independent disks) that works to make your data storage more reliable and aids redundancy.
4. Customer Care and User Experience
You need a streaming server provider who listens to your concerns and is there to support you 24/7 in case you need any technical help. Running a successful streaming platform involves taking care of account limitations and maintaining a consistent bandwidth.
If a server provider is not active in replying to your complaints and it takes a long time for you to reach the relevant department, that shows that your site is not in good hands.
Professional streaming server providers arrange for regular upgrades, configuration, and maintenance which keeps your site running without any breaks
5. Location of the Streaming Server
The server location directly impacts the streaming speed and video quality of the media. Go for such hosting providers which have their servers in all the major data centres of the world so that users can access the content from anywhere they want to.
For great streaming, you need the latency factor of retrieving data to be as low as possible. The latency depends mainly upon the distance between the server and the streamer, which is why you need the best Media Streaming Server Hosting provider who has servers in all the major data centres across the globe.
6. Reliability of the Streaming Server
Many things can be an indication of whether a streaming server can be trusted or not. For example, the uptime score (Standard value 99.9%) shows how long the server remains operational on average.
Another thing to look out for is the bandwidth size which must be large. You can also ask if the provider has alternative network routes or redundant networks in case your main server suffers any damage.
All these factors collectively increase or decrease the performance of a streaming platform and that is why they should never be neglected.
7. Additional Services
This last thing is optional but we think it might be worth mentioning here. Picking a server provider which is skilled in managing and maintaining other types of servers along with streaming ones can save you a lot of money.
A hosting provider which specialises in various servers such as gaming, database hosting, and economic hosting, etc is always a good idea.
It shows that the people you are about to hire are experienced and they know what they are doing. Plus, it can also help you to diversify your website by incorporating additional features and services.
Final Thoughts
At the according to the SEO Magnifier business research and studies choosing a media streaming server is not as easy as it may sound. There are a lot of moving pieces and if ignored, you might end up with a mediocre site management server.
You need to consider factors like bandwidth type and size, the location of the data centres, uptime score, customer service, and many other such factors if you want your site to do well.
We hope this information has provided you with some insights regarding a good streaming server provider. If you choose to consider these points, we can assure you that you will soon find a hosting provider which is both affordable and suits your needs best.