Building a low carbon cloud transcoding platform
Video content is everywhere and has been one of the main source of energy consumption of our internet usage. Streaming is still the number one use of the total internet bandwidth.
I cannot fight against this kind of trend.
I know that telling to stop watching Netflix is a waste of time.
As an engineer, I look for ways to reduce impacts from a problem that’s already there.
At Netsach, we worked for one the biggest broadcaster in France and we built several media management platforms. We learned the ins and outs of the issues arising from managing tons of video content.
Transcoding thousands of files is a hassle. It is way harder by several orders of magnitude that transcoding 3 files once a week.
Basically, you need those three things :
- A lot of storage space (we’re talking in PB)
- A lot of bandwidth between the storage and the transcoders
- A freaking lot of computing power (CPU & GPU)
The required CAPEX and the OPEX is deterrent. In summary you need a Cloud provider.
Cloud transcoding providers overview
The easiest way to transcode video content is to use one of the main providers available :
- AWS MediaConvert
- Azure Media Services
- Bitmovin
- Dolby Hybrik
- Encoding.com
- Telestream Cloud
- Zencoder
However, when you take a look at the prices you’ll realize the offers are awfully expensive. Why these services are so expensive ? There are several factors :
- Specific Codec licences
- Reserved CPU/GPU resources
- CAPEX amortization (GPU costs went through the roof)
- Energy consumption
When you look at the cost structure of a cloud provider, the energy price always plays a great role in the final bill. As of 2022, All European cloud providers raised their prices (+10%) due to energy price hike.
Fortunately, not all data centers are equally power-hungry. The metric to compare their efficiency is the PUE (Power Usage Effectiveness). The best providers are reaching between 1.07 and 1.15.
A low carbon cloud computing provider
Qarnot Computing is a specific cloud computing provider reaching a PUE of 1.05 with a competitive advantage : They recycle the heat produced by servers to provide hot water for buildings and cities. Using their infrastructure helps avoiding consuming energy to heat water.
Transcoding video content using traditional cloud providers is both expensive and generates carbon emissions.
So we are launching Transcodely, a cloud transcoding platform able to provide low cost transcoding services while being really low carbon.
We are looking for early adopters to help us shape the service, you can register for an early access here.
