The challenge: make on-demand video available to Mediaset España users on all platforms

A complex infrastructure providing video access from the cloud

Mediaset España offers two forms of video streaming: on-demand (VOD) and live streaming. Its architecture places the videos’ origin in the public cloud (Azure) where the content is reworked so it can be offered at different quality levels. Until now, the only content delivery network (CDN) it worked with connected to this cloud. Mediaset España was looking to adopt a multi-CDN infrastructure that would enable it to guarantee a quality service and offer enhanced availability for premium users and customers.

The ability to adapt Fastly’s CDN was key

Mediaset España needed Fastly’s CDN to offer a number of technical features so it could easily integrate with the existing architecture that had been built with another provider. It was vital to be able to adapt to a preexisting ecosystem in order to avoid major development steps or commit Mediaset España’s technology stack to features that were specific to the Fastly CDN.

Additionally, extracting data from the public cloud (also known as egress) could be very costly with the volume of data generated by Mediaset España. This is why the agreement between Fastly and Microsoft Azure was another important factor in choosing the Fastly platform.

“Public-cloud egress costs can exceed costs for the CDN. This is a problem that Fastly solved for us.”
Manuel Jesús Guisado, Multiplatform CTO

A platform offering extensive programming options for a multi-CDN architecture

Fastly’s CDN solution, provided in a multi-CDN infrastructure

Keeping in mind the multi-provider architecture that Mediaset España was working with, it was key for Fastly to offer extensive programming so that it would easily adapt to the existing environment without major specific development.

Fastly’s Compute’s features and abilities meet this requirement and allow for code to be deployed and executed on the edge without the need to touch or amend existing services and applications within the prior underlying infrastructure. . This offers Mediaset España the ability to escalate according to its needs and traffic volumes while retaining speed, performance, and security.

Manuel Jesús Guisado, Mediaset España’s Multiplatform CTO, said:
“It’s invaluable to us that the CDNs we use do not require specific developments. Thanks to this, we are only using the subset of features all CDNs have in common.”

Devices for video streaming: a highly complex technological ecosystem

The Azure and Fastly joint solution allows for formats to be adapted

Mediaset España videos are uploaded and stored in Azure. Using a specialized platform, versions with different quality levels are generated. These are then packaged in the range of formats needed for distribution. Fastly was integrated by making the real-time adjustments needed to meet the requirements of the different devices on which requests are made.

“Thanks to the combined Azure and Fastly solution, we now have an answer to the disconnect between storage, computing, and distribution.”
Manuel Jesús Guisado, Multiplatform CTO

Compute@Edge lets you tailor video streams at the edge

Some devices used for access (such as certain Smart TVs) have technical shortcomings. This prevents easy use of CDN architecture. Thanks to Compute’s functionalities, video streaming can be adjusted directly within Fastly’s own infrastructure. The whole solution has been more streamlined as a result. It has eliminated the latency that would have been caused by the back-and-forth process with the public cloud.

Initial testing was ready within two weeks. Following this, the solution was implemented in just a month and a half on all platforms serviced by Mediaset España (that is, web browsers on computers, iOS and Android devices, as well as a large range of Smart TV models). This has allowed Fastly to service all video streaming subdomains within Mediaset España.

From the very beginning, Professional Services engineers within Fastly have been working closely with Mediaset España to pinpoint integration requirements and provide solutions.

After nearly a year of the Fastly platform being continuously and intensively used, traffic at the origin has been significantly eased and requests have gone down very noticeably according to Mediaset España’s technical team.