CDN for Video-Sharing & Streaming Platforms

A CDN for video is a content delivery network optimized for streaming video and distributing large media files measured in gigabytes or terabytes. It differs from a standard CDN in three measurable ways: it handles persistent sessions and long-lived TCP connections rather than short asset requests, it stores fewer but much larger objects (HLS or DASH segments, full MP4 files), and it tracks throughput stability over time rather than just edge cache hit ratio. Standard CDNs are tuned for small static assets like images, CSS and JavaScript. Video CDNs are tuned for sustained delivery of multi-megabit streams to thousands of concurrent viewers per server.

A redirect-based CDN routes each request through a Redirector server, which analyzes more than 50 parameters per request — viewer geography, current server load, network path quality, content size, time of day — and returns an HTTP 302 redirect to the optimal Streaming server. An anycast CDN announces the same IP from every edge location and relies on BGP routing to direct viewers to the nearest node. Anycast wins on latency for small assets. Redirect-based wins on sustained throughput for large files because routing decisions can adapt mid-session and bypass overloaded nodes that anycast cannot reroute away from.

Traffic delivered from any AdvancedHosting Video CDN location costs the same flat rate, regardless of viewer geography.

Unlike many other CDNs that apply unpredictable regional surcharges, our single global rate makes monthly cost forecasting straightforward for VOD platforms with international audiences.

Our pricing follows a cascading tier model that automatically lowers your cost per TB as your volume grows, starting at $3.80/TB for the first 100 TB. For enterprise needs and traffic exceeding 6 PB, we provide custom, highly discounted pricing based on monthly volume commitments.

The Video CDN supports HLS, MPEG-DASH, CMAF, progressive MP4 and MKV containers. Video codecs supported include H.264 (AVC), H.265 (HEVC), AV1 and VP9. Audio codecs include AAC, MP3 and Opus. Delivery runs over HTTP/1.1, HTTP/2 and HTTP/3 (QUIC) with TLS 1.2 and 1.3. Adaptive bitrate ladders are supported through multi-bitrate HLS and DASH manifests. On-the-fly format conversion from MP4 or MKV to HLS or DASH is available without re-uploading the source file. Maximum supported bitrate per stream is 100 Mbps.

Anti-hotlink protection combines six independent layers that can be enabled per resource or per URL. URL signing uses HMAC-SHA256 with a shared secret and expiration timestamp embedded in the signature. Referrer allowlists and blocklists block requests from unauthorized domains. IP-based restrictions accept CIDR blocks for allow or deny rules. Per-IP download limits cap how many times a single client can pull a file. Cookie validation ties access to authenticated user sessions. Geographic restrictions block or allow traffic by country. These layers can be combined — a typical premium VOD configuration uses signed URLs plus referrer check plus geo-restriction simultaneously.

Yes. The Video CDN delivers standard HLS and DASH manifests, so any compliant player works without modification: Video.js, HLS.js, dash.js, Shaka Player, JW Player, ExoPlayer on Android and AVPlayer on iOS. Integration with existing OTT platforms, learning management systems or custom applications happens through direct delivery URLs or through the management API. There is no proprietary SDK requirement and no vendor lock-in at the player layer. Migration from another CDN typically requires only swapping the playback URL and updating the origin or storage configuration.

Yes, the Video CDN supports live streaming over HLS. RTMP ingest is converted to HLS segments and distributed through the CDN. Standard HLS glass-to-glass latency runs 6 to 30 seconds depending on segment size. Low-latency HLS configurations can reach 3-6s. For interactive streaming below one second of latency (live cam, auction, real-time betting), Advanced Hosting offers a separate purpose-built interactive streaming product, not this CDN. The redirect-based architecture and load-aware server selection keep playback quality stable during traffic spikes such as live sports events or product launches.

Each provider solves a different problem. Cloudflare Stream bundles transcoding and a built-in player at $5 per 1,000 minutes delivered and uses anycast across 330+ PoPs — best for web-scale streaming with no infrastructure work. Bunny Stream uses regional pricing from $0.005 to $0.045 per GB across 119 PoPs and is the lowest-cost option for indie video platforms. Gcore Video CDN runs 210+ PoPs and offers an all-in-one platform with built-in transcoding and a streaming dashboard. CDN77 operates 70+ PoPs and positions itself as a multi-CDN partner. Advanced Hosting Video CDN runs 22 active PoPs with focus on Europe and Asia with redirect-based routing, three-copy storage replication, flat global per-TB pricing and six-layer anti-hotlink protection — purpose-built for VOD libraries, premium content distribution and large file delivery to European and Asian audiences.

The Video CDN runs 22 active PoPs across four continents. Europe: Amsterdam, Madrid, Sofia, Milan, London, Frankfurt, Paris. North America: Ashburn, Dallas, Miami, Chicago, Los Angeles. South America: São Paulo. Asia Pacific: Hong Kong, Tokyo, Singapore. Additional PoPs in Melbourne, Perth, Sydney, Mumbai and Dubai are in deployment phase. Origin storage is replicated to three geographically distributed nodes within Advanced Hosting’s data centers in Amsterdam (NL), Ashburn (US) and Hong Kong (HK).

Yes. Advanced Hosting is headquartered in Amsterdam, Netherlands, and operates as a data controller and processor under EU jurisdiction. A standard Data Processing Agreement (DPA) is available on request. When origin storage is configured in EU PoPs (Amsterdam, Madrid, Sofia, Milan, London, Frankfurt, Paris), all customer data processing happens within the EU. Custom data residency requirements — including EU-only delivery, specific country exclusions, or contractual transfer restrictions — are supported through per-resource configuration.

Self-service onboarding through the Websa control panel takes approximately 30 minutes for a basic configuration: create a CDN resource, point it at your origin, configure SSL and access rules, integrate with your player. Enterprise onboarding with content migration from another CDN, custom anti-hotlink rules and per-URL delivery customization typically runs 3 to 10 business days. Migration playbooks exist for moving traffic from Cloudflare Stream, Bunny Stream, Gcore, CDN77 and AWS CloudFront — a standard migration of 1 to 50 TB of catalog content completes in approximately 5 business days with no playback interruption.

Advanced Hosting offers 99.985% monthly availability on the standard Video CDN tier and 99.99% on enterprise contracts. Availability is measured as successful HTTP responses to delivery requests, excluding scheduled maintenance windows announced at least 72 hours in advance. Service credits apply when availability drops below the threshold: credit schedule, e.g. 10% credit for 99.0–99.94%, 25% for 95.0–98.99%, 50% below 95%. Full SLA terms are part of the Master Service Agreement available at advancedhosting.com/documents/master-service-agreement/.