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I just discovered the HTTP 206 partial content.

Can this be used to convert a simple Apache into a video streamer (so we don't have to download the whole video before we can play it) ?

I found lot of sample of nodejs/express to stream videos but I could not find any for apache.

yarek
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  • You might be interested in https://stackoverflow.com/questions/47845571/how-to-build-a-simple-video-streaming-server and https://stackoverflow.com/questions/20369046/http-media-streaming-server – u_Ltd. Jan 10 '21 at 02:27

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Simple answer to your question: yes.

Yet the details get complicated:

  1. What clients do you target? Most probably your question implicates that the video will be watched in any kind of web browser (desktop/mobile). But there's also the possibility to just use HTTP to transfer the file (by adding it up on server and repeatedly invoking wget -c on client, thus using 206 Partial Content) and then listen/watch to the file with another client, such as VLC Media Player or ffplay.

  2. What delay is acceptable? If delay doesn't matter (e. g. 10 seconds or more), then DASH or HSL will make a good solution as they are supported by widely known video.js player. They are HTTP, but don't use 206 technique. If it shall be small (< 2 s, e. g. for videoconferencing), then LL-HSL or LL-DASH can be used. This source claims that sometimes byte ranges could be used, so this could make use of 206 technique. If it shall be even smaller (e.g. 500ms, 200ms), you will most probably need a non-HTTP solution like WebRTC.

u_Ltd.
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