Netflix是流媒体服务的卫冕冠军，也是其最早成功的先驱。该公司已经确定了流媒体服务的功能和方式，但您可能想知道Netflix是如何运作的。
面对Amazon Prime Video、HBO Max、Apple TV +、Hulu等竞争对手，Netflix必须拥有一套成熟的装备。让我们解开细节。
Netflix 的历史简述
Netflix最初是一家基于互联网的DVD租赁业务。它消除了去音像店的痛苦，并提供了宽松的规则，没有任何处罚。当Netflix于 1997 年成立时，互联网带宽无法与有线或广播电视的图像质量竞争。没有人认真考虑过您会通过互联网连接获得电视节目！
公司成立十年后，它开始提供流媒体服务。多年来，Netflix一直是一项混合服务，通过邮件提供流媒体和DVD（后来的蓝光）租赁服务。(Blu-ray)然而，随着其流媒体业务开始起飞和内容库的增长，其他竞争对手出现了。
业务的DVD部分现在几乎全部关闭。Netflix正在大力投资原创节目，因为曾经在Netflix上的许多内容所有者（尤其是迪士尼(Disney)）现在已经将这些内容拉入了他们的流媒体平台。
Netflix 商业模式
Netflix 的目标是尽可能地扩大其用户群。该公司需要扩大规模，以展示来自忠诚的月度订阅用户的稳定、长期的收入来源。
就目前而言，Netflix提供混合了第三方和内部内容的点播视频内容。此外，Netflix的内容几乎涵盖所有类型，其原创电视剧和电影也与类型产品的相同传播相呼应。
Netflix及其创建原创内容(original content)的方式值得注意的是，该公司收集了有关订阅者观看习惯的详细信息。不像(Unlike)电视收视率，它只能粗略地了解人们喜欢看什么，Netflix确切地知道你看什么，你怎么看，甚至是你失去兴趣的节目或电影的确切点。
使用这些详细数据，该公司创建了一些仅在Netflix上以及后来在物理媒体上销售的热门原创电视。更不用说与成功的特许经营权（如Stranger Things或 The Witcher ）配套的所有商品和配套媒体。像《纸牌(Cards)屋(House)》这样的节目和Netflix 原创(Netflix Original)纪录片，比如出色的《我的八达通老师》(My Octopus Teacher)，是让人们进门并留在那里的关键。
Netflix 订阅计划
Netflix提供了多种价格不同的计划。在世界的某些地区，他们还提供在美国(USA)不可用的计划。例如，在南非(South Africa)，有一个（大约）3 美元的个人移动Netflix计划，将服务限制在 SD（标准清晰度(Standard Definition)）质量的智能手机或平板电脑上。
尽管价格因地区而异，但所有地区共有三种计划。基本(Basic)计划允许 SD 质量的单个流。标准(Standard)计划允许两个高清（高清(High Definition)）质量的流，最后，高级(Premium)计划允许四个超高清（超高清 4K (Ultra HD 4K)）(UHD)质量的同时流。
超高清电视(UHD TVs)变得越来越普遍，所以如果你一个人住或者在少于四个人的家庭中，4K 质量被锁定在四屏层是很不幸的。这可能是Netflix(Netflix)用户与家人和朋友共享帐户的主要原因之一，尽管Netflix正在取缔这种做法。
如果您想为Netflix支付更少的费用，请查看如何免费或以优惠价格获得 Netflix(how to get Netflix for free or at a reduced price)。
Netflix 下载的内容
由于我们在旅行、通勤或只是在没有良好互联网的地方经常被切断家庭宽带连接，因此很高兴知道您可以将Netflix内容下载到您的设备并稍后观看。
您无法在Netflix上下载所有内容，因为每个内容的许可持有人都必须提供下载权限。
但是，据我们所知，您可以下载所有Netflix原创内容，如果您转到Netflix应用程序的下载部分，您可以过滤内容以仅显示可以下载的内容。
Netflix还提供智能下载(Smart Download)功能，当您的设备连接到WiFi时，系统会自动下载您正在观看的剧集的下一集。 Netflix还将抢先下载它认为您可能想观看的节目。因此，如果您意外地被困在DMV，您将有一些东西可以打发时间并等待。
Netflix 移动游戏
Netflix正在将其剧目从流媒体视频内容扩展到移动游戏世界。每个Netflix帐户层级都包括访问公司的移动游戏标题(mobile gaming titles)，并且可以从移动应用程序中的游戏选项卡访问。
与Apple Arcade(Apple Arcade)之类的游戏相比，当前可用的游戏是否值得一玩是值得商榷的。但是，如果您已经是Netflix订阅者，那么尝试一下也不会有什么坏处。
Netflix 流媒体技术
Netflix是点播视频流技术的先驱。如果您曾经在连接速度较慢的情况下使用过该服务，您可能会对它的可观看性印象深刻，即使在互联网不是很好的情况下也是如此。
Netflix 使用“自适应比特率(adaptive bitrate)”流媒体方法，随着网络条件的变化，以给定的分辨率动态改变视频质量。根据网络状况，它还可以无缝切换到更低或更高分辨率的流。
Netflix上的每个视频流也包含在各种格式中，以最好地匹配内容流式传输的平台。例如，在 iPad 或 iPhone 上，Netflix使用H.264 视频编解码器(H.264 video codec)，但在UHD (4K) 设备上，它使用H.265 HEVC（高效视频编解码器(High-efficiency Video Codec)）。
Netflix对其技术的确切细节保密，因为这是一项主要的竞争优势。尽管如此，您仍然可以通过激活质量度量覆盖来查看他们的质量传感系统。
这因应用程序而异。例如，您可以通过按遥控器上的“信息”按钮查看三星智能电视上当前的流媒体质量。(Samsung)如果您使用的是 PC 或Mac，则可以通过在 Mac 上按Ctrl + Alt + Shift + D或Control + Options + Shift + D来调出当前视频的完整实时统计信息。
Netflix 全球网络架构
支持像Netflix这样的海量带宽和处理饥渴服务的硬件基础设施令人印象深刻。它的成本也很高，因此Netflix不会购买、建造或维护自己的数据中心。相反，它向亚马逊支付了云服务费用，考虑到(Amazon)亚马逊(Amazon)也是Netflix的Prime Video服务 的直接竞争对手，这似乎很奇怪。
再说一次，亚马逊(Amazon)是少数拥有支持主要云服务的专业知识和技术的公司之一。您可能会惊讶地发现，许多公司都是亚马逊(Amazon)、微软(Microsoft)和谷歌(Google)的客户，他们很乐意将云服务出售给任何人，包括彼此。
Netflix CDN 解决方案
随着云提供商升级和改进他们的系统，确切的硬件会随着时间而变化。使用像亚马逊(Amazon)这样的公司的一个关键原因是它的全球影响力。像Netflix这样的服务需要 CDN 或内容交付网络。(Content Delivery Network.)这些是分布在世界各地的物理数据中心。
当特定地区的用户请求电影或剧集时，内容将由离该用户最近的数据中心提供服务。这意味着他们可以通过出色的带宽获得最快的响应时间。同时，Netflix不必为更昂贵的国际带宽付费。
现代CDN(CDNs)很复杂。例如，如果您是您所在地区第一个请求特定内容的人，您可能会被更远的CDN节点提供服务，但在后台，内容被缓存到离您更近的(CDN)CDN单元以便将来本地用户更快地获得他们的。
Netflix 边缘和计算
你可能听说过与Netflix 同声(Netflix)提及的“边缘计算(edge computing)”一词，但事实证明，该公司尚未真正使用这种云计算方法。
边缘(Edge)计算是一种分配向用户提供内容和服务所需的计算能力的方法。无论(Wherever)在哪里需要处理，其中一些都在离用户最近的服务器上完成。
这听起来像一个CDN，并且概念之间存在一些重叠。但是，CDN(CDNs)将缓存数据存储在网络边缘。在 Netflix 的案例中，他们使用称为 Open Connect缓存服务器的设备，这些设备通常与ISP(ISPs)（互联网服务提供商(Internet Service Providers)）一起安装，以便 ISP 的网络可以为他们提供服务。
虽然将内容托管在网络边缘是CDN(CDNs)和边缘计算共享的优势，但后者还提供较低的延迟，有助于在线游戏、直播和云应用程序等实时应用程序。像Netflix这样(Netflix)的点播(On-demand)服务不会看到超出其CDN已经提供的任何其他好处。
话虽如此，Netflix对5G 网络技术和边缘计算(5G network technology and edge computing)感兴趣，以改善他们实际的原创内容制作。因为这将使现场工作人员更容易将原始镜头发送给可能在地球另一端的编辑或高管！
Netflix 软件客户端
Netflix有许多不同的软件客户端来在各种设备上提供内容。一些软件客户端已经报废，例如Sony PlayStation 3的客户端。仍然支持Xbox One和PlayStation 4等游戏机。
正如我们上面提到的，声音和视频的编码方法可能会有所不同，具体取决于您使用的设备类型Netflix。例如，大多数现代设备，如机顶盒（例如Fire TV、Chromecast或Roku）和智能手机都有硬件解码器来处理H.264视频。
有Android和 iOS 应用程序、适用于Android TV 的智能电视应用程序、三星的Tizen以及几乎所有使用Android以外的智能电视品牌。没有适用于Windows和 macOS 的专用软件客户端，但您可以通过网络浏览器观看Netflix 。
Netflix 如何保护其内容
盗版对于所有类型的内容创建者来说都是一个问题。Netflix使用不同的DRM（数字版权管理(Digital Rights Management)）工具与它作斗争，以防止未经授权复制其流媒体。每种类型的DRM都与运行它的设备操作系统相匹配，因为它们有不同的要求。
当然，随便看看海盗湾(Pirate Bay)等洪流网站就会发现，这些保护措施都不起作用，因为Netflix内容很容易获得。毕竟，只有一个黑客必须击败DRM才能获得无保护的副本，然后像野火一样在互联网上传播。
Netflix 地区限制
虽然将数字内容限制在特定地理区域似乎有点奇怪，但电影和电视发行的许多传统方面仍然适用于现代流媒体服务。
早期，Netflix仅在美国(USA)正式可用。美国(USA)以外的用户可以使用 VPN(use a VPN)或智能 DNS(Smart DNS)服务来绕过区域限制，而Netflix似乎并没有为此烦恼。该公司似乎非常乐意接受非美国信用卡付款！在Netflix完成了在国际上推出所需的所有复杂许可后，他们迅速屏蔽了VPN用户。
其他地区的Netflix目录从很少的标题开始，但如今，无论您身在何处，Netflix 都能提供大量内容。(Netflix)事实上，非美国用户有时会获得美国用户需要在其他地方找到的内容。例如星际迷航探索(Star Trek Discovery)，它只在美国以外的Netflix上播放，直到他们将其删除。
VPN提供商已经想出了如何绕过Netflix的障碍，但现在没有那么多动力去做这件事了。
关于 Netflix ISP 节流的一句话
这是关于Netflix(Netflix)如何工作的大量信息，但值得注意的是Netflix有时无法正常工作。像Netflix这样的流媒体服务占用大量带宽，一些ISP(ISPs)已经开始限制来自Netflix.com的流量，从而限制了客户可以获得的视频质量。因此，即使您为UHD付费，也可能仅限于 HD。
除了与ISP协商外， (ISPs)Netflix对此无能为力，但该公司推出了自己的名为Fast.com的互联网速度测试服务。这会测试您到Netflix网站域的互联网速度，如果它比您支付的宽带速度慢得多，您可能需要与您的服务提供商谈谈。
How Does Netflix Work? A Brief History and Overview
Netflix is the reigning champion of streaming services and its earliest successful pioneer. The company has shaped what streaming services do and how they do it, but you may be wondering how Netflix works.
With competitors like Amazon Prime Video, HBO Max, Apple TV +, Hulu, and more, Netflix has to run a sophisticated outfit. Let’s unpack the details.
Netflix’s History in a Nutshell
Netflix started life as an internet-based DVD rental business. It took the pain out of going to a video store and offered lenient rules with no penalties. When Netflix was founded in 1997, internet bandwidth was incapable of competing with the image quality of cable or broadcast TV. No one seriously considered that you’d get your TV shows through an internet connection!
Ten years after the company was founded, it began offering streaming services. Netflix was a hybrid service for years, offering both streaming and DVD (later Blu-ray) rentals by mail. However, as its streaming business started to take off and the content library grew, other competitors emerged.
The DVD part of the business is all but shut down now. Netflix is investing heavily in original programming since many owners of content that used to be on Netflix (especially Disney) have now pulled that content into their streaming platforms.
The Netflix Business Model
Netflix’s goal is to grow its subscriber base as much as possible. The company needs to expand to demonstrate a stable, long-term income stream from loyal monthly subscribers.
As it stands, Netflix offers on-demand video content with a mix of third-party and in-house content. In addition, Netflix content is spread across virtually all genres, and their original TV series and movies echo the same spread of genre offerings.
What’s notable about Netflix and how it creates original content is that the company gathers detailed information on subscribers’ viewing habits. Unlike TV ratings, which only give a crude idea of what people like to watch, Netflix knows exactly what you watch, how you watch it, and even the exact point in a show or movie you lose interest in.
Using this detailed data, the company has created some smash-hit original TV that’s only on Netflix and later sold on physical media. Not to mention all of the merchandise and tie-in media that go with successful franchises such as Stranger Things or The Witcher. Shows like House of Cards and Netflix Original documentaries like the phenomenal My Octopus Teacher are key to getting people through the door and keeping them there.
Netflix Subscription Plans
Netflix offers several plans that have varying prices. In some regions of the world, they also offer plans that aren’t available in the USA. For example, in South Africa, there’s a (roughly) $3 mobile Netflix plan for individuals, limiting the service to a smartphone or tablet at SD (Standard Definition) quality.
There are three plans common to all regions, although pricing does vary by region. The Basic plan allows for a single stream at SD quality. The Standard plan allows two streams at HD (High Definition) quality, and finally, the Premium plan allows four simultaneous streams at UHD (Ultra HD 4K) quality.
UHD TVs are becoming more and more common, so it’s unfortunate that 4K quality is locked into the four-screen tier if you’re living alone or are in a household with fewer than four people. This is possibly one of the key reasons Netflix users share accounts with family and friends, although Netflix is clamping down on this practice.
If you want to pay less for Netflix, check out how to get Netflix for free or at a reduced price.
Netflix Downloaded Content
Since we’re often cut off from our home broadband connections when traveling, commuting, or simply at a place without decent internet, it’s great to know that you can download Netflix content to your device and watch it later.
You cannot download every piece of content on Netflix since the license holder of every piece of content has to provide permission for download rights.
But you can download all Netflix original content as far as we can tell, and if you go to the download section of the Netflix app, you can filter content to only show those that can be downloaded.
Netflix also offers a Smart Download function, where the next episode in a series you’re watching is automatically downloaded when your device is on WiFi. Netflix will also preemptively download shows that it thinks you might want to watch. So if you’re ever stuck at the DMV unexpectedly, you’ll have something to pass the time ready and waiting.
Netflix Mobile Gaming
Netflix is expanding its repertoire beyond streaming video content and into the mobile gaming world. Every Netflix account tier includes access to the company’s mobile gaming titles and can be accessed from the gaming tab in the mobile app.
Whether the titles currently available are worth playing when compared against the likes of Apple Arcade is debatable. But if you’re already a Netflix subscriber, it can’t hurt to give them a try.
Netflix Streaming Technology
Netflix is a pioneer of on-demand video streaming technology. If you’ve ever used the service on a slow connection, you may have been impressed with how watchable it is even when the internet isn’t great.
Netflix uses an “adaptive bitrate” streaming method that dynamically changes the video quality at a given resolution as network conditions change. Depending on network conditions, it can also switch seamlessly to a lower or higher resolution stream.
Each video stream on Netflix is also included in various formats to best match the platform the content is streamed on. For example, on an iPad or iPhone, Netflix uses the H.264 video codec, but on UHD (4K) devices, it uses H.265 HEVC (the High-efficiency Video Codec).
Netflix keeps the exact details of its technology secret since it’s a major competitive advantage. Still, you can see their quality sensing system in action by activating the quality metric overlay.
This differs from app to app. For example, you can see the current streaming quality on a Samsung smart TV by pressing the “Info” button on the remote. If you’re on a PC or Mac, you can bring up the full live stats for the current video by pressing Ctrl + Alt + Shift + D or Control + Options + Shift + D on a Mac.
Netflix Global Network Architecture
The hardware infrastructure to support a massive bandwidth and processing hungry service like Netflix is impressive. It’s also costly, so Netflix doesn’t buy, build, or maintain its own data centers. Instead, it pays Amazon for cloud services, which might seem weird considering that Amazon is also a direct competitor to Netflix with its Prime Video service.
Then again, Amazon is one of only a handful of companies with the expertise and technology to support major cloud services. You may be surprised to learn that many companies are customers of Amazon, Microsoft, and Google, who’ll happily sell cloud services to anyone, including each other.
The Netflix CDN Solution
The exact hardware changes with time as cloud providers upgrade and improve their systems. One of the key reasons to use a company like Amazon is its global presence. A service like Netflix needs a CDN or Content Delivery Network. These are physical data centers spread across the world.
When a user in a specific region requests a movie or episode, the content is served by the data center nearest to that user. This means they get the snappiest response times with excellent bandwidth. Meanwhile, Netflix doesn’t have to pay for more expensive international bandwidth.
Modern CDNs are sophisticated. For example, if you’re the first person in your region to request a specific piece of content, you’ll likely be served by a CDN node that’s further away, but in the background that content is cached to the CDN unit closer to you so that in future local users will get their more quickly.
Netflix Edge and Computing
You may have heard the term “edge computing” mentioned in the same breath as Netflix, but it turns out that the company is not yet actually using this cloud computing method.
Edge computing is a way to distribute the computing power needed to deliver content and services to users. Wherever processing is required, some of it is done on servers nearest the user.
This sounds like a CDN, and there’s some overlap between the concepts. However, CDNs store cached data at the edges of a network. In Netflix’s case, they use devices called Open Connect caching servers, which are often installed with ISPs (Internet Service Providers), so that the ISP’s network can serve them.
While having content hosted at the edge of a network is an advantage shared by both CDNs and edge computing, the latter also offers lower latencies that help real-time applications such as online gaming, live streaming, and cloud applications. On-demand services like Netflix wouldn’t see any further benefits beyond what their CDN already offers.
That being said, Netflix is interested in 5G network technology and edge computing to improve their actual original content production. Since it would make it much easier for on-location crews to send raw footage to editors or executives who could be on the other side of the planet!
Netflix Software Clients
Netflix has many different software clients to serve content on various devices. Some software clients are end of life, such as the one for the Sony PlayStation 3. Gaming consoles like Xbox One and PlayStation 4 are still supported.
As we mentioned above, the encoding method for sound and video can differ depending on what sort of device you’re using Netflix. For example, most modern devices such as set top boxes (e.g., Fire TV, Chromecast, or Roku) and smartphones have hardware decoders to handle H.264 video.
There are Android and iOS apps, smart TV apps for Android TV, Samsung’s Tizen, and just about any smart TV brand that uses something other than Android. There is no dedicated software client for Windows and macOS, but you can watch Netflix through a web browser.
How Netflix Protects Its Content
Piracy is a problem for content creators of all types. Netflix combats it with different DRM (Digital Rights Management) tools to prevent unauthorized copying of its streams. Each type of DRM is matched to the device’s operating system that it runs on since they have different requirements.
Of course, a casual glance at torrenting sites like The Pirate Bay shows that none of these protections work since Netflix content is readily available. After all, only a single hacker has to defeat the DRM for a protection-free copy to spread across the internet like wildfire.
Netflix Regional Restrictions
While it seems a little strange to restrict digital content to specific geographical areas, many legacy aspects of film and TV distribution still apply to modern streaming services.
In the early days, Netflix was only available officially in the USA. Users outside the USA could use a VPN or Smart DNS service to get around the regional restrictions, and Netflix didn’t seem bothered by it. The company seemed perfectly happy to take payments from non-US credit cards! After Netflix finalized all the complex licensing needed to roll out internationally, they rapidly blocked VPN users.
The Netflix catalog in other regions started with few titles, but today Netflix offers plenty of content wherever you may be. In fact, non-US subscribers sometimes get content that US users need to find elsewhere. Such as Star Trek Discovery, which was only on Netflix outside of the US until they removed it.
VPN providers have figured out how to get around the Netflix blocks, but there isn’t that much incentive to do it anymore.
A Word on Netflix ISP Throttling
That’s a lot of information on how Netflix works, but it’s worth noting how Netflix sometimes doesn’t work. Streaming services like Netflix are massive bandwidth hogs, and some ISPs have taken to throttling traffic from Netflix.com, limiting the video quality their customers can get. So even if you’re paying for UHD, you may be limited to HD instead.
There’s nothing Netflix can do about this directly other than negotiate with ISPs, but the company has launched its own internet speed testing service named Fast.com. This tests your internet speed to the Netflix website domain, and if it’s much slower than the broadband speed you’re paying for, you may want to have a word with your service provider.
