On Monday, Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX) updated its Playback Service with a technology that allows the breaking up of complex tasks into smaller ones to help in automating the process required to launch a video. By introducing the Playback Service, Netflix hopes to ensure good quality video streaming.
According to the company, the process of pressing play to launch a video includes a whole smorgasbord of administrator activities pertaining to DRM licensees, contract evaluations, and choosing the appropriate content delivery network (CDN), among others.
Based on no overlapping
In a blog post, Nicholas Eddy, engineering manager at Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX), said that self-assembling components that have the capability to handle tons of Netflix’s traffic on a daily basis form the core of the updated Playback Service. Signs of stress shown by the Playback Service due to the rapid growth in Netflix’s popularity and hence, traffic, were noted by the company, and they felt the need to update it as soon as possible.
A separation of concerns is a software engineering design principle under which Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX)’s Playback Service operates, and processors form the building block. This principle requires that there should be no overlapping between the parts a software system comprises, which allows the company to reduce various tasks and calculations in such a manner that the end product is as good as it was before, with no compromises on quality and efficiency.
Update follows expansion plans from Netflix
The specialty of these processors is that they are capable of automatically solving small problems occurring in the back-end of the service. These multiple tasks are later stitched together by the company’s assembler mechanism, making a big system out of it. This enables engineers at the company to devote their precious time to other tasks that are much more crucial and reduces the pressure under which they operate.
The streaming service has been upgraded for a better and smoother experience just after Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX) announced plans of launching the service in other parts of the world, including Germany, France, Switzerland, Austria, Belgium and Luxembourg. The expansion is the biggest international move made by the company in the last two years.
