Answers to frequently asked questions about how to use Wowza Streaming Engine™ for Amazon EC2 instances with an Amazon CloudFront distribution.
Contents
Why should I use Wowza Streaming Engine with CloudFront?
How much does it cost to integrate Wowza Streaming Engine with CloudFront?
Which Wowza Streaming Engine licensing options are supported for use with CloudFront?
Can I use Transcoder, nDVR, and DRM with CloudFront?
Are all Wowza Streaming Engine workflows supported on CloudFront?
What streaming protocols are supported?
How can I securely distribute private media streams through CloudFront?
Can I distribute streams between a CloudFront distribution network and a Wowza edge network?
How do I integrate a Wowza Streaming Engine EC2 live-streaming application with CloudFront?
How do I get help?
Why should I use Wowza Streaming Engine with CloudFront?
Amazon CloudFront provides fast streaming of audio and video at scale because it stores the streaming data in its global network of edge locations. When a player application requests a stream from your Wowza Streaming Engine for Amazon EC2 instance origin, CloudFront automatically routes the request to the most optimal edge location so that the stream is delivered with the best possible performance. Your Wowza Streaming Engine for Amazon EC2 instance functions as an HTTP origin server that dynamically delivers the requested chunks, which are then cached on the CloudFront network and delivered to player applications by using standard HTTP caching for improved performance and scalability.
How much does it cost to integrate Wowza Streaming Engine with CloudFront?
Charges for using Wowza Streaming Engine with Amazon CloudFront include:
- Wowza Streaming Engine software – For more information, see the Wowza Streaming Engine Pricing webpage.
- Amazon EC2 – For more information, see the Linux tab in Amazon's On-Demand Instance Prices table.
- Amazon CloudFront – For more information, see Amazon CloudFront Pricing. There's no charge for using AWS CloudFormation.
Which Wowza Streaming Engine licensing options are supported for use with CloudFront?
You can license Wowza Streaming Engine with a valid Subscription or Perpetual license key (or keys) and use it with CloudFront. Trial licenses do not support HTTP Origin mode. For more information, see Wowza Streaming Engine Pricing.
Can I use Transcoder, nDVR, and DRM with CloudFront?
You can use these features for most of the workflows that are supported in a standard Wowza Streaming Engine configuration. However, when you integrate Wowza Streaming Engine with CloudFront, the server is an HTTP caching origin and communication with it is sessionless. This means that URL requests to the origin that include the session-specific query parameters wowzadvrplayliststart and wowzadvrplaylistduration for nDVR playback aren't supported. For more information about how Wowza Streaming Engine works in a sessionless environment with CloudFront, see About Wowza Streaming Engine HTTP caching origin.
Are all Wowza Streaming Engine workflows supported on CloudFront?
When Wowza Streaming Engine is used with an Amazon CloudFront distribution, it's set up as an HTTP caching origin to the CloudFront edge server(s). In this environment, communication with the Wowza origin is sessionless, which means that session-specific query parameters attached to the end of request URLs sent to the server aren't supported. For details, see About Wowza Streaming Engine HTTP caching origin. Before deciding whether to integrate your existing Wowza Streaming Engine EC2 instance with CloudFront or to launch a new Wowza Streaming Engine EC2 instance from Amazon Web Services (AWS) Marketplace, be sure to review your existing or desired streaming workflows to determine how they might be impacted when operating in a sessionless environment.
What streaming protocols are supported?
A CloudFront distribution can deliver streaming content by using the following HTTP-based dynamic streaming protocols:
- Apple HTTP Live Streaming (HLS)
- MPEG-DASH
To support non-HTTP-based streaming protocols such as RTMP and RTSP, you can set up your Wowza Streaming Engine origin server to deliver content through the CloudFront distribution and through a standard Wowza Streaming Engine edge server network.
How can I securely distribute private media streams through CloudFront?
At this time, live streams can't be delivered securely by using CloudFront-signed URLs because of the way player applications generate URL requests for the live stream data. However, progressively downloaded media can be delivered privately by using signed URLs. For more information, see the Amazon article Serving Private Content with Signed URLs and Signed Cookies.
Can I distribute streams between a CloudFront distribution network and a Wowza Streaming Engine edge network?
No, this workflow isn't supported.
How do I integrate a Wowza Streaming Engine EC2 live-streaming application with CloudFront?
If you're already using a Wowza Streaming Engine EC2 instance, see Integrate a Wowza Streaming Engine EC2 instance with CloudFront for more information about how to configure your EC2 streaming application as an HTTP caching origin and how to attach it to a CloudFront distribution. If you've purchased a Wowza Streaming Engine license but haven't set up a Wowza Streaming Engine EC2 instance yet, see Bring your Wowza Streaming Engine license to CloudFront live HTTP streaming to learn how to create an AWS CloudFormation stack that uses Wowza Streaming Engine Amazon Machine Images (AMIs) for live streaming. These images are pre-configured to deliver live HTTP streams through a CloudFront distribution.
How do I get help?
For troubleshooting tips for common problems, see Troubleshoot your Wowza Streaming Engine CloudFront configuration. If you need assistance, see Getting Help on the Amazon website.
