Scalable Dynamic Software For Broadcasters - The Book

Scalable Dynamic Software For Broadcasters is a free 88 page eBook containing a collection of 12 articles which give a detailed explanation of the principles, terminology and technology required to leverage microservices based, software only broadcast production infrastructure.

IP has succeeded in abstracting away the media essence from the underlying transport stream, and in doing so is providing scalable and dynamic solutions that are facilitated through cloud technologies and software.

Although broadcasters have been using software for many years to process video and audio, it is only since the adoption of IP that software has been elevated to form a core component of the broadcaster’s infrastructure. Software defined services and networks all combine to deliver truly scalable and dynamic systems that can respond quickly and efficiently to the needs of the broadcaster’s business.

Software engineering has progressed massively in recent years and understanding modern delivery methods is equally important to understanding how systems operate. Gone are the huge monolithic software packages and incoming are the microservice apps through containerization to deliver highly efficient and scalable systems.

This book contains a series of twelve articles that look to explain how modern containerized software systems operate and why they are so powerful for broadcasters.


The free PDF download contains all 12 articles in this series - and all the articles are available as individual web pages:

Article 1 : Software Infrastructures
Scalable software using microservices is a key requirement for broadcasters if they are to take advantage of the flexibility and resilience that IP offers.

Article 2 : Microservices Explained
Microservices require a different mindset and comparing them to the historic monolithic code of the past makes the mindset shift more easily attainable.

Article 3 : Microservices, Containers & Orchestration
Microservices, along with containers and orchestration form an ecosystem that facilitates scalability, flexibility and resilience to deliver powerful workflows.

Article 4 : Virtualization vs. Containers
Microservices and containers deliver much greater flexibility than virtualization to deliver scalability and flexibility for broadcast workflow infrastructures.

Article 5 : Operating Systems & Containers
Containers provide an abstracted management system for microservices while facilitating specific libraries relating to generic operating systems.

Article 6 : Containers & Storage
Abstracting away the underlying hardware through microservices facilitates flexibility and scalability but this also has implications for high value storage.

Article 7 : Connecting Container & Microservice Apps
Microservice workflows are complex and require custom message exchanges between them to allow services to efficiently control and exchange data.

Article 8 : Building RESTful APIs
RESTful methodologies are providing users with a unified method of controlling and monitoring microservice applications to facilitate greater scalability.

Article 9 : Integrating On- & Off-prem Datacenters & Cloud
Scaling microservice architectures benefits from both on-prem and cloud infrastructures so that the services to meet peak demand are delivered in a few minutes.

Article 10 : Monitoring Usage & Improving Efficiency
Dynamic microservice architectures excel when advanced intelligent monitoring systems are employed to determine when services should be created and deleted.

Article 11 : Container Security
Understanding and employing robust cybersecurity measures is critical for protecting high-value media assets, especially in microservice architectures.

Article 12 : Continuous Delivery
Microservice architectures are more than an advance in technology, they also embrace new design and deliver methodologies that promote consistent change.

This article was made possible by the support of

You might also like...

Designing IP Broadcast Systems - The Book

Designing IP Broadcast Systems is another massive body of research driven work - with over 27,000 words in 18 articles, in a free 84 page eBook. It provides extensive insight into the technology and engineering methodology required to create practical IP based broadcast…

Demands On Production With HDR & WCG

The adoption of HDR requires adjustments in workflow that place different requirements on both people and technology, especially when multiple formats are required simultaneously.

If It Ain’t Broke Still Fix It: Part 2 - Security

The old broadcasting adage: ‘if it ain’t broke don’t fix it’ is no longer relevant and potentially highly dangerous, especially when we consider the security implications of not updating software and operating systems.

Standards: Part 21 - The MPEG, AES & Other Containers

Here we discuss how raw essence data needs to be serialized so it can be stored in media container files. We also describe the various media container file formats and their evolution.

NDI For Broadcast: Part 3 – Bridging The Gap

This third and for now, final part of our mini-series exploring NDI and its place in broadcast infrastructure moves on to a trio of tools released with NDI 5.0 which are all aimed at facilitating remote and collaborative workflows; NDI Audio,…