Suthahar Jegatheesan MSDEVBUILD / blog Multi-Stack Dev Build · by Suthahar
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Netflix does not stream from Netflix

The video you watch tonight is already sitting inside your internet provider.

What you'll learn

  • Why the video almost never comes from Netflix’s own datacentres
  • How the control plane answers play with a ranked manifest
  • How Open Connect boxes inside your ISP are filled overnight
Design Pattern 8 steps 22 seconds —views

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Understand it one step at a time

The short runs these in order in about 22 seconds. Here they are written out — pick any step to jump the short straight to it.

1 Step 1 of 8

It is not coming from Netflix

When you press play, the video almost never travels all the way from Netflix's own AWS-hosted data centres to your TV.

Frequently asked questions

Does pressing play on Netflix stream video from Netflix's own servers?
Almost never — the control plane, which does run in the cloud, responds to "play" with a ranked manifest pointing at the nearest source, but the actual video typically streams from an Open Connect box placed inside your own ISP's network.
How does content get onto those Open Connect boxes?
They're filled overnight, during off-peak hours, with the content predicted to be popular in that region — so the box already holds the video locally before anyone on that ISP presses play.

Free app · no app store

These are built for a phone

Every short is drawn at full portrait height, the shape a phone already is. Installed, it opens full-bleed with no address bar across the top — and the whole library reads offline.

How it works

More shorts

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