Configure cross-border acceleration

Background

ApsaraVideo Live uses Global Accelerator (GA) for stream ingest and streaming acceleration. GA connects live streaming paths to the nearest network access points using Alibaba Cloud's high-quality BGP bandwidth and global transmission network. This reduces network latency, jitter, and packet loss, which improves the quality of your live streaming services.

When you use the global acceleration feature in ApsaraVideo Live, the service creates a pay-as-you-go GA instance, automatically configures the acceleration region and listener, and binds the instance to your live streaming path. After this configuration, the GA network accelerates live streaming services in the corresponding region, improving their quality.

How it works

After you configure cross-border acceleration, the transmission path for stream ingest and streaming is changed from the traditional path to an accelerated path.

Traditional path (without cross-border acceleration):

• In a traditional path, L2 POPs typically transmit live content to the live center over the public Internet. This path is susceptible to network congestion, packet loss, and latency, especially during cross-border transmissions.

Accelerated path (with cross-border acceleration):

• The accelerated path uses the Alibaba Cloud global acceleration network, which creates a direct connection from the L2 POP to the live center. This means data is routed through the stable and efficient Alibaba Cloud global acceleration network instead of the public Internet.

Step 1: Activate the global acceleration feature

1. Log on to the ApsaraVideo Live console.

2. In the left navigation pane, click Domain Names. The Domain Management page appears.

3. Find the streaming domain that you want to configure and click Domain Settings in the Actions column.

4. Click Streaming Management > Cross-border Acceleration.

5. Click Activate to enable the global acceleration feature.

Step 2: (Optional) Enable cross-border acceleration

If your live streaming service involves cross-border acceleration between regions in the Chinese mainland and regions in Hong Kong (China), Macao (China), Taiwan (China), or other countries and regions, your Alibaba Cloud account must meet the following requirements before you can create a cross-border acceleration channel.

1. Apply for China Unicom Cross-border Express Connect qualification. The approval process usually takes several business days.

2. In the prompt that appears in the console, click Enable CDT for cross-border data transfer. After CDT (Cloud Data Transfer) is enabled, you can add a cross-border acceleration channel.

The following table provides examples of cross-border scenarios.

Step 3: Configure an acceleration circuit

1. On the Acceleration Circuits tab, click Create Acceleration Circuit.

2. In the Create Acceleration Circuit dialog box, configure the parameters.

   The following table describes the parameters for configuring a global acceleration circuit.

   Parameter	Description
   Application Name	For the acceleration circuit to take effect, the AppName and StreamName must match the application name and stream name in the streaming URL. The AppName and StreamName can be up to 256 characters in length and can contain digits, uppercase and lowercase letters, hyphens (-), and underscores (_). The StreamName can also be a wildcard character (*) to accelerate all streams within the specified AppName.
   Stream Name
   Acceleration Type	Select an acceleration type based on your requirements. Streaming Acceleration: Accelerates the playback path from the live center to the user's player. Stream Ingest Acceleration: Accelerates the ingest path from the user's streaming client to the live center.
   Live Center	Displays the live center that corresponds to the current streaming domain. Note Select a live center based on your requirements. For more information, see Live center selection reference.
   Acceleration Channel	Select the acceleration region based on the locations of your stream source or viewers and the live center. Note For example, in a stream ingest scenario where the live center is in Shenzhen and the streamer is in Guangzhou, you can select the Guangzhou region as the acceleration region. This creates a dedicated path for stream ingest acceleration from Guangzhou to Shenzhen. If your acceleration channel involves cross-border traffic, see Step 2: (Optional) Enable cross-border acceleration.
   Acceleration Channel Creation	Select an acceleration channel creation method. Reuse Existing: Reuses an existing acceleration channel in the same acceleration region. Charges for the reused channel are billed to the same Global Accelerator (GA) instance. New: Creates a new acceleration channel and a new Global Accelerator (GA) instance, which is billed separately.
   Reused Acceleration Channel	When Acceleration Channel Creation is Reused Acceleration Channel, select the acceleration channel to reuse.
   Accelerated Bandwidth (Mbit/s)	When Acceleration Channel Creation is set to New, enter the acceleration channel bandwidth. Enter an integer from 10 to 2000. Traffic that exceeds 2000 Mbps is transmitted over the public Internet.

3. Click OK to create the acceleration circuit.

   The creation and configuration of an acceleration circuit takes 5 to 10 minutes. During this process, the Acceleration Channel Status in the list is displayed as Unavailable. You can click the Refresh button in the upper-right corner to refresh the page status. After the acceleration channel is successfully created and configured, the Acceleration Channel Status in the list is displayed as Available.

4. If you no longer need an acceleration circuit, you can click Delete in the Actions column of the Acceleration Circuits list.

   Important

   • Deleting an acceleration circuit in ApsaraVideo Live only removes the circuit configuration. It does not delete the corresponding Global Accelerator instance.

   • Pay-as-you-go GA instances incur instance fees and capacity unit (CU) fees regardless of traffic usage. To avoid ongoing charges, go to the GA Instances tab, find an idle instance with an Unbound status, and click its name to open the Global Accelerator console and delete the instance.

Step 4: Manage GA instances

On the Acceleration Circuits or GA Instances tab, click an instance ID to go to the Global Accelerator (GA) console and view the instance details.

• Binding Status is Bound: The GA instance is bound to a live streaming path.

  Do not modify the settings, such as the acceleration region or listener, of a bound instance in the GA console. Any changes can disrupt the acceleration circuit.

• Binding Status is Unbound: The GA instance is not bound to a live streaming path and is idle.

  An instance may become unbound after you delete its acceleration circuit. To avoid ongoing charges, click the instance name to open the GA console and delete it.

A notification at the top of the page reminds you to apply for cross-border express connect qualification to use a cross-border acceleration channel. The GA Instances list also includes the Live Center, Acceleration Channel, and IP Address columns, where you can view the detailed acceleration configuration for each instance.

Related documents

• ApsaraVideo Live is billed based on the traffic you use. For more information, see ApsaraVideo Live pricing.

• ApsaraVideo Live does not charge you separately for cross-border acceleration. However, after configuring cross-border acceleration, you will incur fees for the underlying Global Accelerator (GA) product. For more information, see Global Accelerator pricing.