advanced practice · system design prompt
Video streaming (Netflix-style)
Design a video-on-demand service: catalog browse, adaptive bitrate streaming, CDN distribution. Walk through what happens from play-button press to first frame on screen.
The mechanism
Video streaming is CDN plus adaptive bitrate (HLS or DASH). The origin server should never serve video directly to viewers; the player switches quality on the fly based on the user's bandwidth. Design for the user on bad wifi, not the demo.
Expected evidence
CDN + manifest (HLS/DASH) flow + the bitrate-adaptation loop.
Try this drill in the practice workspace →
Hints when you need them
- Origin servers should never serve video to end users.
- Pre-warm the CDN for predictable launches.