Pre encode everything
Netflix does not transcode on demand. Each title is encoded ahead of time into many bitrate ladders and split into small chunks of a few seconds. This pushes expensive work offline and makes delivery a simple file fetch.
Open Connect at the edge
Netflix places its own caching appliances, called Open Connect, inside internet provider networks. Popular titles are pre positioned close to viewers, so most bytes never traverse the public backbone.
- Encoding pipeline produces multiple quality renditions per title
- Open Connect appliances cache popular content near users
- The control plane picks which appliance serves a stream
Adaptive bitrate
The player measures throughput and buffer health, then requests the next chunk at a bitrate it can sustain. When the network dips, it steps down to a lower rendition rather than stalling.
Smoothness comes from chunked, pre encoded video plus a client that adapts quality continuously.
Key idea
Encode every title offline into chunked bitrate ladders, cache popular content at the edge, and let the player adapt bitrate to current network conditions.