Import - Video CDN [EN]
Import isn’t just uploading. It’s also about processing the file’s metadata. If the file is a video, CDN operates meta information, such as name, size, duration, format, etc…
File pre-processing during the import plays a key role in enabling additional CDN features (such as support for HLS and DASH manifests, adaptive streaming, and format conversion).
Our architecture is designed to support a wide range of file import workflows, allowing you to choose the method that best fits your project’s needs.
We support both manual and automated imports, with options for pull and push (using local scripts) methods. The origin may be rsync daemon, Swift, S3 or Cloud Storage.
Whether you prefer pre-importing content in advance or lazy importing, the system is flexible enough to accommodate both mechanisms of import.
Pre-import files
The common delivery strategy requires video files to be imported into the CDN before they can be delivered.
The most popular scenario is Storage sync from your project to Video CDN, to make files imported. The files become available for visitors after importing:
During the pull import process (used in most cases), our agents download the file from the specified source using three parallel, independent streams. This approach accelerates content processing and reduces the time required to prepare the file for distribution.
If one of the streams fails, the system can compensate by using the remaining streams, supported by internal data replication mechanisms within the storage layer.
Once the file is ready, it is distributed to edge nodes across the network. Redirectors then route incoming client requests to these distributed files, ensuring optimal delivery.
Automated import includes a scanning stage to detect new or updated files, followed by the actual download and processing. The way these stages are handled may vary depending on the chosen protocol or technology.
Content is made available to your users from the moment the first copy of the file is successfully imported by the CDN. Under normal circumstances, a video will be accessible within 5 minutes of being added to the CDN import queue.
To ensure that all of your files are available in the CDN as quickly as possible, when you first batch-upload multiple resources or add large amounts of content while using the CDN, we can temporarily triple the speed of content upload to the CDN by lowering the initial file copy quantity to one copy per file, which will also reduce the immediate load on your origins.
To arrange for this, contact our tech support.
Lazy import
This import method of import is explained at Lazy import.
Limitations
VideoCDN is not designed for small file delivery (less than 10MB). It is not recommended to import such files (but also not forbidden).
Due to this, a range of file types that statistically are below level are not allowed for importing:
Images and graphics: gif, ico, jpeg, jpg, png, svg, swf, tif, tiff
Scripts and applications: cgi, jnlp, js, php
Web pages: htm, html, shtml
Documents: pdf, css, csv, doc, xls, xlsx, txt
Structured data: xml, json
Fonts: eot, ttf, woff
Streaming data chunks: ts
Anycast CDN is a better tool for distributing this type of content.