ApsaraVideo VOD supports audio and video playback. You can preview audio and video files in the ApsaraVideo VOD console and play the files by using ApsaraVideo Player SDK or a third-party player.

Delivery acceleration

ApsaraVideo VOD uses Alibaba Cloud CDN to accelerate video delivery for a better viewing experience.

Hotlink protection: You can use the referer header in HTTP requests to track and identify the sources of the requests. You can configure a referer blacklist or whitelist to identify and filter visitors. This way, you can manage access to the media assets stored in ApsaraVideo VOD.

URL signing: URL signing uses Alibaba Cloud points of presence (POPs) together with origin servers to protect origin content from unauthorized access and downloads. URL signing is a highly secure and reliable method to protect resources on the origin server.

Playback authentication: Playback authentication is a secondary authentication mechanism based on Alibaba Cloud AccessKey authentication.

Audio and video playback

As an essential part of ApsaraVideo, ApsaraVideo Player SDK facilitates end-to-end video services. It provides the basic playback features of ApsaraVideo VOD and ApsaraVideo Live, and integrates various ApsaraVideo services such as encrypted playback, secure download, resolution switching, and live Q&A. You can use ApsaraVideo Player SDK to deliver simple, fast, secure, and stable video playback services.

Statistical analytics

Playback quality monitoring and operational data statistics: The playback data dashboard is provided based on the data collection capabilities of ApsaraVideo Player SDK. You can view playback data statistics such as the playback times, stuttering rate, playback failure rate, quality of service (QoS), and quality of experience (QoE). ApsaraVideo VOD collects operational data on video playback and statistics on frequently requested resources. For example, ApsaraVideo VOD collects statistics about the number of unique visitors (UVs), number of video views (VVs), playback duration per viewer, and popular videos.