Streaming Media File Segmentation and Distribution
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Solution Overview
Problem
The existing streaming media server systems face performance bottlenecks and inefficient storage utilization due to the large size of high-resolution video files, leading to delayed responses and wasted storage space, as users typically only watch a small portion of the content before deciding if they are interested.
Innovation Solution
The system segments streaming media files into smaller segments, distributes them across multiple servers based on access frequency, and uses a resource index server to manage and index these segments, allowing for efficient storage and rapid access.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Quantity of substance
If the streaming media server stores entire high-resolution video files, then the storage capacity is sufficient, but the I/O performance deteriorates due to frequent data exchange between memory and hard disk
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides large video files into smaller segments distributed across multiple storage nodes. Each segment can be independently accessed and cached in memory, reducing the I/O burden on any single node while maintaining adequate storage capacity across the distributed system.
2Adaptability or versatility
If the streaming media server stores all video contents for user selection, then the content availability is high, but the storage space utilization is low since users only watch a small portion
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements differential storage where different segments of video content are stored with different redundancy levels based on their access patterns. Frequently accessed segments (such as beginning portions) are stored with higher redundancy across multiple nodes, while less accessed segments use lower redundancy, optimizing storage utilization while maintaining content availability.
3Device complexity
If a single streaming media server serves hundreds of users, then the system complexity is low, but the response time increases when serving thousands of users
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the monolithic streaming media server into multiple distributed server nodes, each handling a subset of video segments and users. This segmentation allows the system to scale to thousands of users while maintaining manageable complexity at each individual node through modular architecture.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an index server as an intermediary that manages the distribution of video segments across storage nodes and routes user requests to appropriate servers. This mediator layer handles the complexity of distributed resource management, allowing individual server nodes to remain relatively simple while achieving high overall system performance.
Data Source
AI summary
A system and method for storing a streaming media file for improving the performance of a streaming media server and fully utilizing the space of a storage are provided. The system includes: a segmenting and distributing server, adapted to segment the streaming media file into at least two segment files, determine a number of the streaming media servers for storing each segment file, distribute each of the at least two segment files to corresponding streaming media servers according to the determined number of the streaming media servers, and transmit the related information of each of the at least two segment files to a resource index server; at least two streaming media servers, adapted to receive and store the segment file; and the resource index server, adapted to receive the related information and establish an index in respect of each segment file and its related information.