![]() And since the one program knows the other’s API properly, no change will break the exchange of information. Developers can now make many changes, small or huge, to each application as long as they ensure that it plays well with the API. And when two applications do need to talk to each other, they use an application programming interface (API) - a tightly-controlled set of rules that both programs can handle. It will not share any of it with any other app by nature. Netflix literally ushered in a revolution around ten years ago by rewriting the applications that run the entire service to fit into a microservices architecture - which means that each application, or microservice’s code and resources are its very own. Such a structure is what we call a monolithic architecture. And while it might not seem a big deal here, on a huge service like Netflix the entire application going down because a change was made to one part of it can not only ruin the experience for users, it also means that all other parts of the application have to be rewritten to accommodate that one tiny change you made to one part of the app. You’re screwed.Īll your work on LocoList has gone into the trash because a change was made to Maps that broke your app. And now LocoList can’t seem to find that locations.txt file it depended on for all its data, and there’s no other way it can extract that information from the Maps app either. Now, let’s just say that developers of the Maps app realise it’s a better idea to store all your location information somewhere else than in that locations.txt file, and updates the app so that it no longer creates or stores that file on your phone. And you end up creating an app called LocoList, that, provided there’s a Maps app on your phone, looks for this locations.txt file and shows all the places recorded in that file in a simple list. ![]() Let’s just assume that the Maps app on your phone tracks your location all the time and saves complex information about everywhere you go in a file, locations.txt. Let us just try to understand how Netflix is structured on the technological side with a simple example. (Amazon Web Services/YouTube) Hundreds of microservices, one giant service This is, in short and in the most layman terms, how Netflix works.ĭave Hahn, a senior engineer from Netflix’s Performance and Reliability Department, shows off the entire architecture of Netflix in one flow diagram. And as much as it means building top-notch infrastructure at a scale no other Internet service has done before, it also means that a lot of participants in the experience have to be negotiated with and kept satiated - from production companies supplying the content, to internet providers dealing with the network traffic Netflix brings upon them. At this scale, providing quality entertainment in a matter of a few seconds to every user is no joke. ![]() What isn’t as simple is what goes into running Netflix, a service that streams around 250 million hours of video per day to around 98 million paying subscribers in 190 countries. For them, kicking off a marathon is as simple as reaching out for your device or remote, opening the Netflix app and hitting Play. Not long ago, House of Cards came back for the fifth season, finally ending a long wait for binge watchers across the world who are interested in an American politician’s ruthless ascendance to presidency. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |