Video Streaming Platform architecture template
Upload, transcode, and deliver video at scale with CDN. Generate a complete cloud architecture with cost estimates, Terraform, diagrams, and deployment workflows — on AWS, Azure, or GCP.
$300 – $900 / month on AWS
Typical production setup. Your actual cost is generated based on your specific configuration.
Architecture overview
Stores raw uploads in object storage, runs a transcoding pipeline for multiple resolutions and adaptive bitrate, distributes via CDN, and gates playback behind subscription and entitlement checks.
~8 services
Sample architecture diagram
graph TD
A[S3 Upload] --> B[SQS
Job Queue]
B --> C[MediaConvert
Transcoder]
C --> D[S3 HLS
Segments]
D --> E[CloudFront
CDN]
E --> F[Video Player]
G[Rekognition] -.->|moderation| CTerraform preview
Each generated workspace includes provider-aware Terraform starter modules, deployment variables, and environment notes for the selected cloud provider. This preview is intentionally short so the public page stays readable while still showing search engines the implementation artifact.
module "app_platform" {
source = "./modules/app-platform"
environment = "production"
region = var.primary_region
}
module "observability" {
source = "./modules/observability"
service_ids = module.app_platform.service_ids
}Production risks for this architecture
CDN egress cost surprise: video delivery traffic can multiply your AWS bill 3–10x without per-user bandwidth caps and CloudFront cost alerts configured
MediaConvert job queue saturation during upload spikes: implement priority queuing so paid subscribers get faster encoding than free-tier users
Adaptive bitrate stall on slow connections: ensure your HLS segment sizes and keyframe intervals are tuned — default MediaConvert settings often cause rebuffering on mobile networks