10 Reasons You Should Skip the Idea of Self-Hosting Your Videos It may sound really simple to self-host your own live-streaming videos. Howe...

10 Reasons You Should Skip the Idea of Self-Hosting Your Videos

It may sound really simple to self-host your own live-streaming videos. However, it is a real headache. You may spend a lot more money, time, and effort with self-hosting than with live streaming services. 

But if you have already decided or are looking for reasons to skip your own video, here is a solution. Here is a comprehensive list of things that can help you understand it better. 

• Your Server’s Bandwidth: You can get the best server for your virtual event live streaming with the best service provider. On the other hand, it can be hard to attain a significant bandwidth in your self-hosting. It can be the biggest trouble of all. Furthermore, the bandwidth allocated by the internet provider can make it difficult to broadcast your event with multiple and large files. Also, if numerous people will try to watch your events live streaming at the same time, it can put a strain on your bandwidth. However, you can get a specific amount of bandwidth and resources with every server from the best live streaming solutions. 

• Limits on File Size and Storage Space: Your youtube live streaming services channel has its own limit on uploading videos. You can not upload more than 50 - 100 MB video without paying or finding an alternative, as many web providers limit the file size. Hence, it will require more time to back up your website and the uploaded files. It makes your website more vulnerable to crashes and hacking and leads to backup corruption. 

• Longer Page Load Times: Your large embedded videos will be responsible for slowing down page loading and chasing away viewers. Hence, the video will take more than usual to load and play. It is because you are trying to use your pages to send more data from the self-hosted video server to end-users. However, the live streaming services providers make all such trouble away with more potential. 

• No Single Standard File Format: The device or browser of the individual will either play the video on MP4, WebM, or Ogg formats due to the pivoting of video players toward an HTML5 format. This format does not have a standardized file layout prescribed for any browser. Hence, you will have to upload the hybrid event live streaming videos in three different formats, one in .mp4, one in .ogv, and one in .webm, in order to ensure that various major browsers support your videos. 

• Video That’s Slow to Load: The dozen people who try to watch your videos make queries on a single server as your video is hosted on a single server. Some people can be a victim of slow-loading and laggy video as it creates a bottleneck on your self-hosted video server’s bandwidth. Hence, you will need to pay for a lot of bandwidth in order to make a good viewing experience for your viewers.

• Much More Work for You: You need to upload a video on 1080p or 720p at a high streaming video bitrate in order to make it available for the audience using desktop or laptop computers. They will be able to watch the video on full screen without compromising quality if you serve a large file. Furthermore, you have to upload the smaller, lower-resolution version for mobile users. Hence, self-hosting creates a lot of trouble to live stream your in-person events.

• Multiple Video Players: You will need the best live streaming services that can help your web software automatically detect the device requesting a video and the internet speed in order to serve the correct version of the content. 

• Clunky Code: You need to choose a video player that requires embedding its code into your website. It will need a plugin or other method. Hence, you need a code to help the video player know the created formats and their location on the self-hosted video server. As per the live streaming provider, you have to be careful with your codes, as one wrong letter or number can break the whole thing.

• Increased Costs: You will need to convert one video into multiple file sizes and formats to create and upload a qualitative video. Furthermore, such work requires time, knowledge, as well as money, whether you tackle this task or hire someone else. 

• Multiple Video Conversions: You will have to follow the conversion process in order to make your finished video in different file sizes and formats. Furthermore, you have to be alert that you need to invest a little extra time and special software to complete this task. However, there is a risk that your video gets corrupted during this conversion process. 

So, these are the various reasons you should skip the idea of self-hosting your videos and choose the best live streaming platform. You can attain great success in your broadcasting with such a decision. 

I Hope, you will find this article beneficial to know the various drawbacks of self-hosting your videos.