About video-on-demand streams using the Wowza Video REST API

A video-on-demand (VOD) stream is a recording viewers can replay at a later date. After the broadcast is over and the live stream or transcoder is stopped, Wowza Video creates the VOD stream and generates a URL that you can use to configure playback in an HLS compatible player or device. Alternatively, you can configure the stream so the VOD playlist replaces the live playlist after the event and viewers can re-use the live URL to access the recording. VOD streams capture up to eight hours of content. If a live stream or transcoder runs for longer than eight hours, the most recent eight hours are recorded.

Info

If you're a Wowza Video subscriber, VOD streams created using the vod_stream parameter will not be available on the Asset Management page. If you want to manage your VOD stream through asset management, set the save_asset parameter to true when creating a live stream. This will generate both a VOD stream and a recording.

This topic provides general information about VOD streams, including ways to secure them.

Requirements

VOD streams have the following requirements:

Available for Fastly stream targets only.
Available in v1.5 of the REST API and later.
Not available for 24x7 streams.

Storage

VOD streams stored in Wowza Video generate additional costs. Billing is based on your peak storage, which is the greatest amount of recorded content (VOD streams and recordings) stored in a given month. To help you stay apprised of costs, you can check your peak storage at any time using the Wowza Video REST API. For more information, see View usage data with the Wowza Video REST API.

Info

Wowza Video deletes VOD streams 90 days after an account is suspended or terminated.

Security

You can use the following features to provide security for VOD streams:

Disable playback — To prevent viewers from playing a stream, send a request to PATCH /vod streams/ID and set the `playback enabled parameter to false`.
Require HTTP for playback — See Manage HLS playback over SSL for Wowza CDN on Fastly with the Wowza Video REST API for more information.
Apply geo-block restrictions to allow or block access in certain locations — See Geo-block Wowza CDN on Fastly stream targets with the Wowza Video REST API for more information.
Encrypt streams using token authentication — See Protect a Wowza CDN on Fastly stream target with token authentication using the Wowza Video REST API for more information.

Info

If you update the security settings for a Fastly stream target, those changes are automatically applied to the VOD streams associated with the target.