18 {{ upvoteCount | shortNum }}
18 {{ upvoteCount | shortNum }}

Whats the Best Provider For Hosting Video?

by thegeneral777
15 replies
  • WEB DESIGN
    • |
Hi yall.

Im setting up a members website where I'll be teaching via video tutorials.

Has anyone had experience with this, and can recommend the best platform for hosting the video?

Currently Im looking to Amazon AWS, but its the only one I know of. Im also not keen to use YouTube as members will be paying and probably not too happy if they could have got the content for free on Youtube.

Many thanks in advance.
Sam
#hosting #provider #video
  • Profile picture of the author Tomos Wyn
    You could use Blip.tv. They have a Pro option, which has a feature like so:

    Hidden videos
    Sometimes you don't want the whole world to see your videos. As a pro account user, you can mark your videos as 'hidden'. Hidden videos don't show up in blip.tv's indexes and searches, or in any RSS feeds. On the blip.tv site, only you and other registered blip.tv users who you list as contacts can see your hidden videos. If you want to share the videos with other people who aren't blip.tv users, you can post them to an external site. Finally, you can password-protect your hidden videos, so that they can only be watched by people who know the password.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[2364808].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author webgoer
      Youtube is the best. They have an option to make your videos private so no one else can see them and another where only people with the right url, something like youtube.com/745945393857 so it's basically a password. I signed up there recently and was quite impressed. all you need to do is copy the code they give you to your site to imbed the movie.
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[2373559].message }}
      • Profile picture of the author mun
        Yes youtube is quite good, I have also been looking into Metacefe and Amazon S3. Amazin S3 has been suggested on alot of occasions, it is not free but what you pay is not alot, especially if you intend to make money in some way or form from your videos, either through membership or adds or product sales.
        {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[2374612].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author Verena
    You can use cloud hosting like Rackspace Cloud. They're fast and cost effective.
    Signature
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[2378126].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author Richard Whyte
      Some good advice here... For me, I like Amazon S3 best. No upper limits on file size, very fast video access and fair pricing.

      In the end, you need to look at your options and make the choice that is best for your business model. I also do training and maket it to my customers and for the dollars charged, Amazon S3 works best for me.

      Have a Great Day!
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[2378582].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author pbarnhart
    Vimeo has been a great option for me - especially since you can password protect AND restrict what site(s) the video plays on - I've embedded on members-only Wordpress sites with no issues or leaks at all. Now, if I have hours of video, then I probably need to consider Amazon (though I have also worked with someone who did "videos on a stick" and mailed them).

    And now, Vimeo HD is free!

    Vimeo nixes HD embed play limits, side business | Web Crawler - CNET News

    One note - I am a regular Rackspace Files user - they not offer true streaming, only "progressive download" http. Any time you use progressive download or HTTP, a copy is made on the user's cache and it can be downloaded and copied with no special tools.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[2378914].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author WebsiteManagers
      Originally Posted by pbarnhart View Post

      Vimeo has been a great option for me - especially since you can password protect AND restrict what site(s) the video plays on - I've embedded on members-only Wordpress sites with no issues or leaks at all.
      This is the option I am going with too for member sites. I like the site restrictions option and the low cost to get it.
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[2379122].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author Verena
    Oh yes, forget to mentioned in my earlier post. You need a media player to "play" a video on your site. If you're using any cloud hosting service, I recommend JWPlayer as media player. It supports playback of any format the Adobe Flash Player can handle (FLV, H.264, MP4, MP3, AAC, JPG, PNG and GIF). It also supports various streaming and playlist formats (including RMTP, HTTP, live streaming and more), a wide range of flashvar settings and an extensive JavaScript API. HTH
    Signature
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[2381371].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author danieltwooduk
    I've heard Amazon S3 is the best you can buy. I personally like Vimeo for ease of use :-)
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[2390120].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author wingsofsuccess
      According to Vimeo's Terms, you cannot use them for any kind of commercial use.

      -Abhi
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[2415940].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author inspiro
    The quality of Vimeo is incredible (I've seen quite a few video based portfolios hosted there).
    Signature

    ▌InspiroHost :: Shared Web Hosting
    ▌Servers in New York, Chicago and London.
    ▌Try our Blog Hosting, Online Portfolio and Firebird SQL services.

    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[2416519].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author WebsiteManagers
    "Commercial use" would pertain mostly to advertisements. Instructional and entertainment videos are allowed even if they contain commercial content. Marking videos as private will keep them from the public view. If you upgrade your account, you can designate a specific domain to show the videos. Having that, I think the "commercial use" policy is ineffective.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[2416998].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author jdistad
    I've spent countless hours (probably weeks or months) researching the best ways to provide fast, trouble free videos on a membership site in a secure (unable to steal or share) method and S3 is by far the best option I have ever used. In conjunction with the proper site setup and a few plugins its awesome.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[2417187].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author Michael Solomon
    if you want to use youtube, you can also set the video to private (only invited people can see it) or unlisted (only people that have the url can see it, which includes a page you embedded it on), so there are options to make it work and not have the content be publicly available on youtube...

    Also wondering about the vimeo restrictions for commercial use...has anyone dug in deeper into their tos yet to see if the above described use is acceptable? I love vimeo, but $200 upfront for a pro account makes it hard to justify over e.g. amazon s3 and I sure don't want to build my business on a shaky foundation of grey-zone vimeo use...

    If nobody else has, I will dig through the legalese, but hoping someone may have that at hand to share here
    Signature
    “There is a SCIENCE OF GETTING RICH, and it is an exact science ... those who do things in this certain way ... get rich, while those who do not ... remain poor.”
    - Wallace D. Wattles

    Get The Great Formula + powerful tools to master it for up to 95% OFF with The Science of Success WSO.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[4522122].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author pbteam08
    well mate if you want to host your video on your personal server go for dedicated hosting else go with youtube it's the best option for hosting videos
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[4525244].message }}

Trending Topics