The Magic Behind Your Netflix Binge-Watching

Shikha Pandey
3 min readJan 17, 2024

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Imagine this: It’s Friday night. You’ve had a long week, and all you want to do is relax. You grab your favorite snack, settle into your comfy couch, and fire up Netflix. As you click “play” on the latest episode of your favorite show, have you ever wondered what’s happening behind the scenes? Let’s pull back the curtain and take a layman’s look at the intricate system design that makes your Netflix binge-watching possible.

Chapter 1: The Click and The Journey

When you click “play”, your request embarks on an incredible journey. It travels through the vast expanse of the internet, reaching Netflix’s servers. These servers are part of Amazon Web Services (AWS), a cloud computing platform that Netflix uses for most of its backend operations. This robust infrastructure ensures that your request is processed efficiently and reliably.

Chapter 2: The Delivery

Your request doesn’t stop at AWS. It’s forwarded to another part of Netflix’s system called Open Connect. Open Connect is Netflix’s custom-built content delivery network (CDN). It’s responsible for delivering all the video content to Netflix’s customers. Open Connect appliances are installed at various Internet Exchange Points (IXPs) and within the networks of Internet Service Providers (ISPs) around the world. This ensures that the content is delivered to the end user with minimal latency. So, when you hit “play”, the video streams smoothly, no matter where in the world you are.

Chapter 3: The Architecture

AWS and Open Connect. These two clouds work together as the backbone of Netflix and are highly responsible for providing the best video to the subscribers.

Key Components

1. Client: This is the device (User Interface) which is used to browse and play Netflix videos. It could be a TV, XBOX, laptop, or mobile phone.

2. Open Connect (OC) or Netflix CDN: CDN is the network of distributed servers in different geographical locations, and Open Connect is Netflix’s own custom global CDN (Content delivery network). It handles everything which involves video streaming.

3. Backend (Database): This part handles everything that doesn’t involve video streaming (before you hit the play button) such as onboarding new content, processing videos, distributing them to servers located in different parts of the world, and managing the network traffic.

Chapter 4: The Data

As you sit back and enjoy your show, there’s a lot happening behind the scenes. Netflix uses Amazon Web Services (AWS) for most of its backend operations. AWS provides a highly scalable, reliable, and low-cost infrastructure platform in the cloud. Netflix uses various AWS services such as Amazon S3 for storage, Amazon EC2 for compute capacity, and AWS Lambda for running code without provisioning servers.

And what about the data? Netflix uses a combination of relational and NoSQL databases for storing its data. It uses Apache Cassandra for its scalability and distributed architecture. For data processing, Netflix uses Apache Kafka for real-time data streaming and Apache Flink for stream processing.

Chapter 5: The Recommendations

As you browse through the Netflix catalog, you might notice the personalized recommendations. These aren’t just random suggestions. Netflix uses machine learning algorithms for its recommendation engine. It uses both content-based and collaborative filtering methods to provide personalized recommendations to its users. So, when you see a show recommended to you, know that there’s a sophisticated algorithm working behind the scenes to understand your preferences and viewing habits.

Epilogue: The Engineers

Behind every click, every stream, and every recommendation, there’s a team of engineers working tirelessly to ensure that your Netflix experience is seamless. They’re the unsung heroes of your binge-watching sessions, constantly innovating and improving the system that brings your favorite shows and movies to your screen.

So, the next time you settle in for a Netflix marathon, spare a thought for the magic happening behind the scenes. It’s a testament to the power of technology and the ingenuity of the engineers who make it all possible. Enjoy your show!

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Shikha Pandey

Software Engineer - Tech Enthusiast - Startup Enthusiast. Reach me out at https://shikhapandey.me/:)