5 ms·

Netflix Streaming = 20% of peak Internet traffic in the US

33 points by milkshakes 16y ago

andrewjshults 16y ago
From Netflix's own site they currently have around 15 million subscribers and from the world bank, there are about 230 million people with internet in the US so about 6% of the internet users are taking up 20% of the peak bandwidth (assuming that all 15 million actually use the streaming service which is probably a gross over estimation). It'd be very interesting to see how the YouTube/Hulu numbers compare. I can see why Netflix would be such a high consumer (longer content and now a lot more HD content) but even still 20% seems very high when you factor in things like YouTube, Hulu, iTunes, Amazon and file sharing like Bit Torrent.
akozak 16y ago
This definitely throws a wrench in the argument that high bandwidth user = illegal file sharing, baby punching terrorist. I'd be surprised if Netflix didn't have some arrangement with the major ISPs. On the other hand, if Netflix is doing just fine without having to worry about negotiating with ISPs to avoid throttling, then maybe it is still feasible to fund and launch a new high-bandwidth product.
- kingkilr 16y ago
  Well, it depends what the other 80% is ;) Personally, I think this presents a compelling argument that transferring video content takes a shit ton of bandwidth.
  - jemfinch 16y ago
    Did you really need such an argument?
  - andreyf 16y ago
    It doesn't take astronomical amounts, though, as I think most cable lines can support at least that much bandwidth ;) What we're really seeing here is that the majority of the population is moving to internet video instead of their televisions. I imagine some TV networks want a technical guarantee that their video will be streamed uninterrupted by lag, at which point, it's only a matter of time 'till all video content is consumed.
robertk 16y ago
It's more accurate and less misleading to say "bandwidth" rather than "traffic."
quizbiz 16y ago
I wonder where Youtube falls in regards to % of bandwidth in North America.
- flipp 16y ago
  9.5%
gfunk911 16y ago
Ok. This article seems to be saying that Netflix epsnds 500 mil/year on shipping, and they now spend more on streaming than shipping. Let's say they spend 500 mil/year on streaming. http://newteevee.com/2010/10/20/netflix-ceo-we-are-now-a-streaming-company/ http://newteevee.com/2010/10/20/netflix-ceo-we-are-now-a-str... Let's also assume that they spend 2 cents/gb on bandwith, so $1/50gb. 50gb * 500mil == 500 * 50pb == 25 exabytes. Somebody with more knowledge: does the yearly US bandwidth sound like it's in the range of 125 exabytes?
- jedberg 16y ago
  They run their entire streaming service from EC2, which at the best price is 8 cents /GB. Assuming they worked out a deal (which I've never heard of Amazon doing), they might be as low as say 4 cents. So I'd say best case you need to at least 1/2 your numbers.
  - timdorr 16y ago
    Where does it say that? If they're pushing as much transit as they say they are, they would be going straight to the Tier 1's and running their own servers. Also, when you're doing as much traffic as Netflix is, then you should be measuring in line speed, not data transferred. Providers bill based on speed (by the Mbit or Gbit) because that represents best how much of their total capacity you're using. It doesn't cost them anything to transfer some amount of data, but it does cost them in the total amount of bandwidth they have left to sell to other customers.
    - mfringel 16y ago
      It doesn't cost them anything to transfer some amount of data, but it does cost them in the total amount of bandwidth they have left to sell to other customers. At some level transfer quantity and rate are the same thing. A bit sent for customer A takes up space on the wire that can not be used for customer B, no matter how it's measured. It's also unclear which line would be measured for purposes of Netflix's transfer rate. That's one of the beauties of the cloud... specific line transfer rates are abstracted away into an aggregate quantity of data. If you're selling lines, you charge by rate. If you're selling transfer, you sell by bits.
Osiris 16y ago
My sister-in-law and father-in-law both pay $10/mn to Netflix and never rent movies. They use it for streaming only. I have a feeling that there are a lot of these kinds of Netflix customers that pad the company's profits. I'm not entirely surprised that most streaming is 8-10pm, but in my family, it's all from 8am to 10am. The kids just have to watch the same Thomas and Caillou over and over again.
- Qz 16y ago
  One of my roommates has an Xbox 360 solely for streaming Netflix on his big TV in lieu of cable.

33 points by milkshakes 16y ago

From Netflix's own site they currently have around 15 million subscribers and from the world bank, there are about 230 million people with internet in the US so about 6% of the internet users are taking up 20% of the peak bandwidth (assuming that all 15 million actually use the streaming service which is probably a gross over estimation). It'd be very interesting to see how the YouTube/Hulu numbers compare. I can see why Netflix would be such a high consumer (longer content and now a lot more HD content) but even still 20% seems very high when you factor in things like YouTube, Hulu, iTunes, Amazon and file sharing like Bit Torrent.

akozak 16y ago

This definitely throws a wrench in the argument that high bandwidth user = illegal file sharing, baby punching terrorist. I'd be surprised if Netflix didn't have some arrangement with the major ISPs. On the other hand, if Netflix is doing just fine without having to worry about negotiating with ISPs to avoid throttling, then maybe it is still feasible to fund and launch a new high-bandwidth product.

kingkilr 16y ago
Well, it depends what the other 80% is ;) Personally, I think this presents a compelling argument that transferring video content takes a shit ton of bandwidth.
- jemfinch 16y ago
  Did you really need such an argument?
- andreyf 16y ago
  It doesn't take astronomical amounts, though, as I think most cable lines can support at least that much bandwidth ;) What we're really seeing here is that the majority of the population is moving to internet video instead of their televisions. I imagine some TV networks want a technical guarantee that their video will be streamed uninterrupted by lag, at which point, it's only a matter of time 'till all video content is consumed.

robertk 16y ago

It's more accurate and less misleading to say "bandwidth" rather than "traffic."

quizbiz 16y ago

I wonder where Youtube falls in regards to % of bandwidth in North America.

flipp 16y ago
9.5%

gfunk911 16y ago

Ok. This article seems to be saying that Netflix epsnds 500 mil/year on shipping, and they now spend more on streaming than shipping. Let's say they spend 500 mil/year on streaming. http://newteevee.com/2010/10/20/netflix-ceo-we-are-now-a-streaming-company/ http://newteevee.com/2010/10/20/netflix-ceo-we-are-now-a-str... Let's also assume that they spend 2 cents/gb on bandwith, so $1/50gb. 50gb * 500mil == 500 * 50pb == 25 exabytes. Somebody with more knowledge: does the yearly US bandwidth sound like it's in the range of 125 exabytes?

jedberg 16y ago
They run their entire streaming service from EC2, which at the best price is 8 cents /GB. Assuming they worked out a deal (which I've never heard of Amazon doing), they might be as low as say 4 cents. So I'd say best case you need to at least 1/2 your numbers.
- timdorr 16y ago
  Where does it say that? If they're pushing as much transit as they say they are, they would be going straight to the Tier 1's and running their own servers. Also, when you're doing as much traffic as Netflix is, then you should be measuring in line speed, not data transferred. Providers bill based on speed (by the Mbit or Gbit) because that represents best how much of their total capacity you're using. It doesn't cost them anything to transfer some amount of data, but it does cost them in the total amount of bandwidth they have left to sell to other customers.
  - mfringel 16y ago
    It doesn't cost them anything to transfer some amount of data, but it does cost them in the total amount of bandwidth they have left to sell to other customers. At some level transfer quantity and rate are the same thing. A bit sent for customer A takes up space on the wire that can not be used for customer B, no matter how it's measured. It's also unclear which line would be measured for purposes of Netflix's transfer rate. That's one of the beauties of the cloud... specific line transfer rates are abstracted away into an aggregate quantity of data. If you're selling lines, you charge by rate. If you're selling transfer, you sell by bits.

Osiris 16y ago

My sister-in-law and father-in-law both pay $10/mn to Netflix and never rent movies. They use it for streaming only. I have a feeling that there are a lot of these kinds of Netflix customers that pad the company's profits. I'm not entirely surprised that most streaming is 8-10pm, but in my family, it's all from 8am to 10am. The kids just have to watch the same Thomas and Caillou over and over again.

Qz 16y ago
One of my roommates has an Xbox 360 solely for streaming Netflix on his big TV in lieu of cable.