Cloud vs On premise Video Hosting: Which One To Choose?

Shalabh Agarwal Dec 6th, 2024

Video content is one of the most powerful and seamless mediums for conveying the message today in the business world. Internet traffic is filled with 80% of video content today. It has a strong ability to engage, inform, and convert audiences as compared to other modes of content delivery.

From product demonstrations to marketing campaigns, educational content to customer support videos it has passed every way to connect with the audience and drive business growth. For businesses, the question is not about whether to use video but how to make the most use of it.

To deliver video content one needs a reliable hosting platform that not only works as a storing platform but also ensures smooth streaming, optimal performance, and excellent viewer experience. 

A hosting platform is a backbone for the businesses crafting video strategy. It helps businesses reach the audience seamlessly no matter where they are.

Businesses today have multiple choices before making any decision. The same goes when choosing a hosting solution. They have the option for cloud vs on premise video hosting. Each one of the options has distinct benefits and considerations. 

Before choosing between them let’s dive straight into their needs, resources, and long-term goals.

What Is a Video Hosting Platform?

Video hosting platform offers a service or infrastructure to store, manage, and deliver video content to the audience across the internet. It is a central repository of businesses where they can upload videos and share them with the viewers easily. 

These platforms handle the technical complexities of video delivery. It also ensures smooth playback, accessibility around multiple devices, and optimal quality.

Business dependencies on video hosting platforms remove the challenges of hosting videos on their servers. It also removes the problem of bandwidth limitation and server maintenance.

With the help of video hosting platforms businesses can maintain their professional grounds by being highly creative. 

What Is Cloud Video Hosting?

Cloud video hosting is one of the most picked solutions for storing and streaming video content using cloud-based infrastructure. Instead of focusing just on physical servers located on-premise, the business leverages cloud service providers to host their videos. 

This makes accessibility strong over the internet.

In cloud video hosting, video is stored on a remote server. It is managed by third-party providers like AWS, Google Cloud, or specialized video platforms. These providers give seamless scalability, robust security, and high availability. Thus, allowing businesses to deliver content efficiently around global audiences.

It is an ideal option for an organization that is prioritizing scalability, global reach, and minimal IT overhead. 

Pros of Cloud Video Hosting

  • Scalability: Cloud video hosting helps businesses to scale their storage and streaming capacity as per the demand of the company. Whether the situation is about a viewership spike during the live event or an increase in audience, the cloud services ensure that the platform handles increased traffic without interruptions.
  • Global touch: It is integrated with Content Delivery Networks which ensures fast video delivery across the globe. It stores the data in multiple server locations which reduces latency and gives a seamless viewing experience irrespective of audience location.
  • Cost-effectiveness: Cloud hosting platform operates on a pay-as-you-go model. It means that businesses only have to pay for the resources they are using. This removes the need for upfront investment in hardware and maintenance which makes it a budget-friendly solution, especially for startups.
  • Less IT Maintenance: The hosting provider works for managing the server, updating, and troubleshooting. This helps businesses to focus on content creation and strategy building more rather than managing the technical complexities of the server.
  • Advanced features: Many cloud platforms offer features like adaptive bitrate streaming, automated transcoding and detailed analytics. These help businesses with better viewer experience and provide insights about user behavior thus helping businesses to optimize their video strategies.

Cons of Cloud Video Hosting

  • Dependency on Internet connection: Cloud hosting needs a stable and fast Internet connection. Any breakage or disruption in connection affects the ability to upload, stream, or access video. It generally affects the region with poor infrastructure.
  • Recurring costs: It is cost-effective initially but the ongoing fees for storage, bandwidth, and additional features add over time. It will greatly affect the business with large-scale streaming needs or growing audiences.
  • Latency concerns: Despite global CDNs, high-quality streaming faces delays in the region far from the nearest data center. Multiple real-time applications like live streaming can face slight lag or buffering problems.
  • Compliance challenge: Businesses like healthcare or financial companies deal with sensitive data. It brings difficulties in compliance with the guidelines of data protection like GDPR or HIPAA. 

What Is On-premise Video Hosting?

On-premise video hosting stores and manages the video content on the servers located in the company premises. It does not rely on third-party cloud infrastructure. In this model, the business owns and maintains the hardware, software, and networking infrastructure needed for entire hosting and streaming videos.

This hosting gives greater control over data storage, security, and server configurations thus making it a preferred choice for organizations that handle sensitive or proprietary content. 

On-premise hosting is generally used by industries having strict compliance requirements like healthcare, finance, and government institutions.

On-premise invites significant upfront costs and maintenance. It also has limited scalability as compared to cloud solutions. Despite all the challenges, it remains the viable option for businesses giving importance to data sovereignty, customized configurations, and picking a higher level of control over the video content. 

Pros of On-premise Video Hosting

  • Full control over data: On-premise hosting gives complete control over the video data, storage, and management. It is beneficial for businesses that handle sensitive or proprietary information because of their open ground on the customization of security protocols.
  • Better security: Since servers can be physically located within the premises, the risk of external breaches is less. The company can implement strict security measures like restricted physical access and advanced firewalls to secure the content.
  • Compliance: Businesses with high industry standards and rules like healthcare and finance prefer on-premise hosting. This automates the following rules with data protection laws like HIPAA and GDPR.
  • Infrastructure: On-premise systems also help businesses to customize their hosting environment which also includes hardware configurations and software integration. This aligns with the specific workflows and technical requirements.
  • Predictable cost: While the investment for the initial level is high, the on-premise hosting removes the recurring subscription cost. Over time, this model becomes more cost-effective for businesses with stable and predictable hosting needs.

Cons of On-premise Video Hosting

  • High investment: Setting up the on-premise hosting solution needs significant capital expenditure on hardware, software licenses, and infrastructure. This becomes a barrier for small or growing businesses.
  • On-going maintenance: On-premise hosting needs a team of experienced and dedicated IT staff for server maintenance, updates, troubleshooting, and ensuring uptime. This leads to operational complexity and increases the overhead costs.
  • Limited scalability: Expanding the hosting capacity needs the purchasing of additional hardware. It can be time-consuming, and also heavy on pockets. Thus, making it a less adaptable option to meet fluctuating demand or rapid growth of any business.
  • Accessibility: On-premise system requires VPNs and other secured connections for remote access. It complicates the workflow and limits the accessibility for geographically dispersed teams. 

On-premise Video Hosting Vs Cloud Hosting

Factors On-premise video hosting Cloud video hosting
Ownership It is fully managed and owned by the business. It is not managed by the business but by a third-party provider.
Scalability It can be scalable but limited to the existing hardware of the business. For more extension it requires purchase. It is highly scalable and the resources can be adjusted dynamically.
Upfront cost The cost of acquisition is high during the hardware purchase and setup. There is no upfront cost of acquisition. Just the minimum cost to use with the pay-as-you-go model.
Maintenance It requires in-house IT teams for server upkeep. There is a provider that handles the maintenance and updates.
Accessibility The accessibility is limited to internal team members. It can be accessible from anywhere via the Internet.
Security There is full control over security measures. The security relies on the provider’s security protocol.
Performance Performance is reliable because of the controlled environment.   Performance depends on the internet connectivity and the CDN.

Conclusion

Enveu provides cutting-edge cloud video hosting solutions to meet the standards of the business. The platform ensures seamless scalability, global accessibility, and robust security to deliver an excellent unparalleled video streaming experience. 

Whether it is about live event hosting, on-demand content, or corporate videos, Enveu brings in reliable and flexible infrastructure to keep the audience engaged.

Also, businesses should pick the ones that have some advanced features like adaptive bitrate streaming, content delivery network integration, monetization tools, and detailed analytics. 

Whatever the pick between the two hosting platforms, Enveu plans to offer a future-proof video strategy with scalable, efficient, and customizable solutions.

Elevate your video hosting experience by having an impactful video hosting solution.

Shalabh Agarwal - Co-founder, Enveu
Shalabh Agarwal is the co-founder of Enveu, one of the fastest-growing App automation and OTT solutions providers. Shalabh oversees the global businesses for Enveu and has been working in the Technology and SaaS space for over 15 years.

Add a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Looking for Streaming Solutions?

  • Go-Live on 12+ platforms
  • Zero Revenue Share
  • Multiple Monetization Models
  • 50+ Integrations

get a demo today

Take control of your digital media strategy.
Contact us for a no-obligation demo of the Experience
Cloud, tailor-made for you!

    By Continuing, you agree to our Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy