Practice: Design Video Streaming Platform

On-demand and live video streaming platform with ingest, transcoding, DRM licensing, CDN delivery, ABR manifests, and playback analytics.

Build this system yourself on the canvas below. Add components, connect them, and run traffic simulations to see where your design holds up and where it breaks.

Functional requirements

  • Upload VOD content via web/API with resumable transfers.
  • Transcode uploads into multiple renditions (bitrate/resolution/codecs) and package into HLS/DASH.
  • Serve manifests and segments globally via CDN with tokenized/signed access.
  • Support DRM (e.g., Widevine/FairPlay/PlayReady) with license issuance and key rotation.
  • Provide live streaming ingest (RTMP/SRT) with near real-time segmenting and ABR manifests.
  • Store and deliver subtitles/captions and thumbnails/preview sprites.
  • Playback analytics collection — startup time, rebuffer ratio, bitrate switches, errors.
  • Search/browse catalog by title, genre, and availability; personalized recommendations.
  • Geo-blocking, entitlement checks, and availability windows per asset.
  • Multi-device playback support across web, mobile, and TV apps.

Non-functional requirements

  • Availability: 99.99% platform uptime; live events must remain available during a single-AZ failure.
  • Performance: initial playback start < 2 s p95; segment delivery < 150 ms p95 from edge; license issuance < 200 ms p95.
  • Scalability: support millions of concurrent viewers and petabyte-scale libraries.
  • Durability: source media and renditions stored with 11-nines durability in multi-AZ object storage.
  • Consistency: strong for entitlements and license issuance; eventual (< 30 s) for analytics and catalog search indexing.
  • Security: TLS in transit; signed URLs/cookies for CDN; DRM keys protected by KMS; principle of least privilege.
  • Resilience: circuit breakers/timeouts; retries with backoff; DLQs for failed jobs; blue/green or canary deployments.
  • Observability: traces/logs/metrics for ingest, packaging, origin, CDN hit ratio, and license latency.
  • Cost: storage tiering for cold content; CDN offload targets > 90% hit ratio.
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Round 1 of 4 · Architecture Design · 60:00 remaining
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Components

User
CDN
Load Balancer
Server
Cache
Database
Blob Storage
Search Index
Queue
Worker
Rate Limiter
Service
API Gateway
Reverse Proxy
WebSocket Server
Third-party API

Inspector

Notes
Use clear names so your design intent is easy to understand.
Good
Name by business meaning
"Order API", "Restaurant Service"
Avoid
Generic names = zero signal
"Server 1", "API", "Queue"
A short description for each component makes feedback much better.
100%
Start by identifying:
  • Users & entry points
  • APIs & services
  • Databases & storage
  • Traffic flow & scale

Round 1 of 4 Architecture Design

Run a simulation to see results.

Time Remaining
60:00
System Design Interview

What are the core functional requirements?
What are the key non-functional constraints?

Questions

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Components Added
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Design Decisions

Click Simulate to run your design and see results here.

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EVALUATE MODE

Test yourself like it's the real thing.

A structured 4-module evaluation that mirrors how top companies assess system design candidates.

Architecture Design
Draw your system on the canvas. Define components, connections, and data flow.
FR & NFR Requirements
Answer functional and non-functional requirement questions about your design.
MCQ Round
Multiple choice questions testing your depth on the chosen system.
Tradeoff Analysis
Justify your design decisions and defend your architectural tradeoffs.
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Round 2 of 4
MCQ Round
Answer multiple-choice questions based on your design.

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Your progress will be saved.

Open a saved design

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My Evaluations

Your past evaluation sessions

Here’s a simple request flow that follows the expected layer order.

External User
→
Edge CDN → API Gateway → Load Balancer
→
Compute App Servers / Services
→
DataAccess Cache
→
Storage Database / Search Index
→
Async Queue → Worker

Tip: keep arrows moving forward through layers (Edge → Compute → Storage). Avoid sending storage back to compute.

Evaluation Instructions

Read the rules carefully before starting. The test auto-submits on refresh.

Before you start

  • Build your architecture on the canvas. The timer starts when you click Start Evaluation.
  • Don't forget to answer Functional Requirement and Non Functional Requirements.
  • When satisfied with your design, click Next to lock it and view the questions.
  • Please answer final step questions to complete the evaluation.

Dos

  • Do read each question carefully before answering.
  • Do include required components to maximize component coverage.
  • Do save a copy of your design if you want to keep it before submission.

Don'ts

  • Don't refresh or close the tab during an active evaluation — this will auto-submit your answers.
  • Don't switch app modes or open another tab while the evaluation is running.
  • Don't attempt to edit the design after clicking Next; the workspace will be locked.

All the best!!

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