20 Streaming Interview Questions and Answers

When applying for a position in the streaming industry, it is likely that employers will want to know your experience and understanding of the streaming process. Understanding what questions you are most likely to encounter and how to properly answer them can help you make a positive impression on the hiring manager. In this article, we discuss the most commonly asked streaming questions and how you should respond.

Streaming Interview Questions and Answers

Here are 20 commonly asked Streaming interview questions and answers to prepare you for your interview:

1. What is streaming?

Streaming is a process where data is continuously transferred from a source to a destination. This can be done in real-time, or near-real-time.

2. Can you explain what an encoder and a decoder are in the context of streaming?

An encoder is a device or software that converts audio or video signals into a digital format that can be streamed. A decoder is the opposite, and is a device or software that converts a digital signal into an audio or video signal.

3. What is a video codec?

A video codec is a software program that is used to compress and decompress digital video files. Codecs are used in order to reduce the size of digital video files so that they can be more easily stored and transmitted.

4. How do you stream live content from a web server to clients on demand?

There are a few different ways to stream live content from a web server, but the most common is to use a Flash Media Server. This type of server is designed specifically for streaming audio and video content, and can be used to stream live content to clients on demand.

5. Why can’t we just use TCP for real-time data transfer between servers and clients? Isn’t that already implemented in most common programming languages like C, Java, Python, etc.?

The main reason why we can’t use TCP for real-time data transfer is because of the way that TCP handles data. TCP is a reliable protocol, which means that it will guarantee that data is delivered in the order that it was sent. However, this also means that TCP is a bit slower than some of the other options out there. For real-time data transfer, we need something that is a bit faster and can handle dropped packets without causing too much of a delay.

6. Can you give me some examples where I would need to implement my own streaming solution rather than using existing protocols or libraries?

There are a few reasons you might need to implement your own streaming solution. One reason could be if you need to support a custom protocol that is not supported by any existing libraries. Another reason could be if you need to optimize for a specific use case that is not well supported by existing solutions. Finally, you might need to implement your own streaming solution if you are working with proprietary data formats that are not well supported by existing solutions.

7. What’s your favorite open source streaming platform?

I don’t really have a favorite, but I have used a few different ones. I’ve used Apache Kafka, which is a really popular one, and I’ve also used Apache Flink, which is a newer one that I really like.

8. What are some popular tools used for testing streaming solutions?

Some popular tools used for testing streaming solutions include JMeter, LoadRunner, and WebLoad. These tools can help you simulate different load scenarios and test the performance of your streaming solution.

9. In general, how does a client connect to a server when it wants to start playing a video?

The client will first need to establish a connection with the server. Once the connection is established, the client will send a request for the video. The server will then start streaming the video to the client.

10. How can I protect my streams from unauthorized access by others?

There are a few ways to protect your streams from unauthorized access. One way is to use a streaming server that requires authentication, such as a password-protected server. Another way is to encrypt your streams using a tool like SSL.

11. What is the difference between a P2P network and a CDN? Which one is better for streaming?

A P2P network is a network of computers that share resources between each other. A CDN is a network of servers that provide content to users. CDNs are better for streaming because they can provide a more consistent stream of data.

12. What is adaptive bitrate streaming?

Adaptive bitrate streaming is a streaming technique that adjusts the quality of a video stream in real-time based on the available bandwidth. This allows for a smoother viewing experience for the user, as the video will not constantly stop and start due to buffering.

13. What is the latency of the typical HTTP protocol? How much more latency do you get with RTMP, HLS, DASH?

The typical HTTP protocol has a latency of around 200 milliseconds. RTMP, HLS, and DASH all have latencies of around 3 seconds.

14. What does “buffering” mean in the context of streaming? Is it possible to completely eliminate buffering?

When a video is “buffering,” it means that the video is loading into the viewer’s computer so that it can be played. The video is downloaded in small pieces, and each piece is stored in a buffer. The video cannot be played until the entire video has been downloaded and stored in the buffer. It is possible to reduce the amount of buffering by increasing the size of the buffer, but it is not possible to eliminate buffering entirely.

15. What types of encoding technologies are commonly used for streaming?

The two most common types of encoding technologies used for streaming are MPEG-2 and MPEG-4.

16. When should I use UDP for streaming over TCP?

UDP is typically used for streaming when low latency is more important than reliability. For example, if you are streaming live video, you would want to use UDP to minimize the delay between when an event happens and when it is displayed. However, UDP is less reliable than TCP, so if you are streaming audio or video that can tolerate some buffering, TCP would be a better choice.

17. What is the difference between live streaming and real time streaming?

Live streaming refers to a video or audio feed that is being broadcast in real time, as it is happening. Real time streaming, on the other hand, is a video or audio feed that is being played back in real time, but may not necessarily be live.

18. What do you understand about IP multicast networking?

IP multicast is a method of sending data to multiple recipients at the same time. It is often used for streaming media applications such as video conferencing or live broadcasts. With IP multicast, a single copy of the data is sent out to the recipients, which reduces the amount of bandwidth that is used.

19. What happens if there is a loss during transmission of packets from a sender to a receiver? How is this dealt with?

If there is a loss of packets during streaming transmission, the quality of the video or audio may be affected. To deal with this, the streaming software may use a technique called forward error correction, which involves sending extra information along with the data in order to allow the receiver to reconstruct the data even if some of it is lost.

20. What are some key points to consider when designing a streaming service?

There are a few key things to consider when designing a streaming service. First, you need to make sure that you have enough bandwidth to support the number of users that you expect to be using the service. Second, you need to design your system to be able to handle spikes in traffic. Third, you need to make sure that your system is scalable so that it can easily handle more users as your service grows. Finally, you need to choose the right codecs to use for your content so that it can be streamed efficiently.