Streamroot FAQ

How it works

Can I use Streamroot for my live streams? What about VoD?

Streamroot can be used for both live streaming and video-on-demand. All you need are viewers who are watching the same content at the same time. Streamroot is therefore particularly effective for large sporting events, series premieres, popular movies, etc. where lots of viewers tune in simultaneously.

How can Streamroot help me better scale to large audiences?

Traditional streaming solutions rely on a one-to-many infrastructure, in which a few servers supply content to thousands or even millions of users. When too many viewers try to retrieve content at the same time, the network becomes congested and quality of service suffers.

Streamroot’s peer-to-peer technology improves the distribution architecture by decentralizing data exchanges and allowing viewers to obtain content quickly from multiple sources. This heightens reliability by reducing platforms’ dependence on traditional CDN architecture. If a server or CDN fails, users can continue to stream, as content can be supplied by other viewers.

It also helps platforms scale to growing audiences. Whereas server infrastructures are weighed down by traffic peaks, a peer-to-peer system only becomes more efficient: the more peers there are to share content, the more they can share among themselves. Platforms can use traffic spikes to their advantage, save money and offer a better quality of service for the end user.

What’s more, Streamroot has developed powerful topology-based prioritization algorithms to intelligently connect peers and thereby maximize the effectiveness of the peer network.

For more information about our core technology, check out the Streamroot DNA™ page.

Do my viewers need to download and install a plugin?

Nope! One of Streamroot’s main advantages is that it works directly in the browser and is entirely plugin-free for viewers.

If Streamroot isn’t working, will my viewers be prevented from streaming?

Not at all. If there are ever not enough peers to share your content, the system automatically reverts back to original server-client architecture. On the flip side, Streamroot effectively shields viewers from the effects of momentary server outages or malfunctions: peers can continue providing content to each other even if the server temporarily fails!

How many concurrent viewers do I need for P2P to work?

Our peer-to-peer system requires a relatively low critical mass to work effectively. The more peers there are to share the content, the more powerful the results, but Streamroot has proven valuable to platforms with as few as a few dozen simultaneous viewers for live streaming and a hundred or so for VoD. Video length and geographic dispersion of viewers are important factors to take into consideration. Contact us for a diagnostic for your platform!

Compatibility

Is Streamroot compatible with my CDN?

Yes. As a hybrid solution, Streamroot works in tandem with your existing client-server distribution infrastructure. Streamroot’s peer-to-peer component allows users to upload and download content from other viewers instead of systematically retrieving it from the server. Viewers can therefore obtain content from the source that can provide it most quickly – either the server or another viewer – which increases speeds, improves latency times, and saves you money.

In short, the two systems work together seamlessly to optimize streaming quality for your viewers.

What streaming formats do you support? Does Streamroot work with DRMs?

Streamroot supports MPEG-DASH, HLS and Smooth Streaming, and is easily integrated into a variety of different video players. For DRMs, Streamroot can be used with all HTML5-based encrypted media extensions (Widevine in Chrome, Playready in IE), as well as AES encryption for HLS.

How do I use Streamroot on my site?

If you’re using JW Player or Video.js, integration is as simple as adding three scripts into the webpage containing the player. If you have a custom player, we’ll help you integrate the p2p module and adjust any upstream parameters such as video encoding and configuring the media server.

Are you compatible media servers like Wowza?

Yes, we are compatible with Wowza, along with Nginx, Unified Streaming Platform, Mist, AWS, Azure Media Server and more.

Does Streamroot work on mobile phones, set-top boxes or Smart TVs?

Streamroot is compatible with browser-based middleware (Chromium and Opera) in set-top boxes, and we have developed native SDKs for mobile (Android and iOS), Apple TV (TVOS), Tizen, Amazon Fire stick and LG WebOS.

Miscellaneous

Is P2P safe for viewers? How do I know that the exchanges between peers are secure?

Our peer-to-peer network is entirely controlled by our centralized tracker servers. These servers prevent any unauthorized access to the video streams through features such as domain restriction, geo-restriction and token authentication.

All data shared over the peer-to-peer network is encrypted, files and packets are verified to avoid corruption, and information is only cached on users’ computers while they are actually watching the video.

How much does Streamroot cost? How much can I really save?

Streamroot offloads on average from 50% to 80% of traffic from client’s servers, helping them save up to 70% on their bandwidth bills. Savings depend on a number of parameters, including audience size, type of content, traffic flows, etc. To have a better idea how much your platform could save, contact us!

I’m concerned about overloading my viewers’ upload bandwidth.

Streamroot’s algorithms measure viewers’ bandwidth capacities and manage segment queuing accordingly. This allows us to use a part of the user’s bandwidth without compromising the user’s resources. For mobile networks with data caps, peer-to-peer is deactivated and can only be used when the device is connected to wifi.