ApsaraVideo Live:Configure GA settings

Background information

ApsaraVideo Live can leverage the capabilities of GA to accelerate stream ingest and streaming. GA enables users to connect to the closest access points by using the high-quality Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) lines and global network infrastructure of Alibaba Cloud. This reduces network issues such as latency, jitter, and packet loss and improves the live streaming experience.

When you use GA in ApsaraVideo Live, ApsaraVideo Live creates pay-as-you-go GA instances, automatically configures the acceleration areas and listeners for the instances, and automatically binds the instances to acceleration circuits. After you configure GA settings in the ApsaraVideo Live console, GA accelerates live streaming in the corresponding regions to enhance streaming quality.

Step 1: Activate GA

1. Log on to the ApsaraVideo Live console.

2. In the left-side navigation pane, click Domains. The Domain Management page appears.

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

4. Choose Streaming Management > Global Accelerator (GA).

5. On the page that appears, click Activate. The system automatically activates GA for you.

(Optional) Step 2: Enable cross-border acceleration

If your live streaming service requires acceleration for data transfer between the Chinese mainland and China (Hong Kong), China (Macao), China (Taiwan), or other countries/regions, you can enable cross-border acceleration by performing the following steps:

• For a China site (aliyun.com) account:

  1. Apply for the qualification of China Unicom cross-border Express Connect. It takes a few working days to review your qualification application.

  2. After the qualification application passes the review, click Enable CDT for cross-border data transfer in the ApsaraVideo Live console. After CDT for cross-border data transfer is enabled, you can create cross-border acceleration circuits.

• For an International site (alibabacloud.com) account:

  1. Complete enterprise verification.

  2. In the ApsaraVideo Live console, click Enable CDT for cross-border data transfer. After CDT for cross-border data transfer is enabled, you can create cross-border acceleration circuits.

The following table lists the scenarios that involve cross-border acceleration.

Step 3: Create 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.

   Parameter	Description
   AppName	The acceleration circuit takes effect only if the value of AppName and the value of StreamName are the same as the application name and stream name that are specified in the streaming URL. The value of AppName or StreamName can be up to 256 characters in length and can contain digits, letters, hyphens (-), and underscores (_). You can also specify the asterisk wildcard character (*) as the value of StreamName to match all streams in the application specified by AppName.
   StreamName
   Acceleration Type	Select an acceleration type. Streaming Acceleration: accelerates data transfer from the live center to the playback side. Stream Ingest Acceleration: accelerates data transfer from the stream ingest side to the live center.
   Live Center	Displays the live center in which the streaming domain resides.
   Acceleration Channel	Select the region where you want to accelerate data transfer. Note If you want to accelerate data transfer between the Chinese mainland and China (Hong Kong), China (Macao), China (Taiwan), or other countries/regions, perform the operations that are described in (Optional) Step 2: Enable cross-border acceleration.
   Acceleration Channel Creation	Select the method to create an acceleration channel. Reuse Existing: reuses an existing acceleration channel in the same region. If you reuse an existing acceleration channel, bills are generated for the same acceleration channel (the same GA instance). New: creates an acceleration channel. A new GA instance is also created, for which bills are independently generated.
   Reused Acceleration Channel	Select the acceleration channel that you want to reuse. This parameter is available only if you set Acceleration Channel Creation to Reuse Existing.
   Accelerated Bandwidth (Mbit/s)	Specify the accelerated bandwidth. This parameter is available only if you set Acceleration Channel Creation to New. You can enter an integer that is greater than or equal to 10. If the value is greater than 2000, the excess traffic is transmitted over the Internet.

3. Click OK.

   The configuration of the acceleration circuit requires 5 to 10 minutes to complete. During this period, the status of the acceleration channel is displayed as Unavailable in the Acceleration Channel Status column. You can click the Refresh icon in the upper-right corner to refresh the displayed status. After the configuration of the acceleration circuit is complete, the status of the acceleration channel changes to Available in the Acceleration Channel Status column.

4. If you no longer require an acceleration circuit, find the acceleration circuit in the list and click Delete in the Actions column to delete the acceleration circuit.

   Important

   • After you delete an acceleration circuit, the acceleration circuit is deleted from ApsaraVideo Live. However, the corresponding GA instance is not deleted.

   • You are charged instance fees and capacity unit (CU) fees for a pay-as-you-go GA instance, regardless of whether traffic is generated. If you want to completely delete a GA instance, find the instance on the GA Instances tab and click the instance ID to go to the GA console. Then, delete the GA instance in the GA console to prevent unnecessary fees. Take note that the binding status of the GA instance must be Unbound.

Step 4: Manage GA instances

Click an instance ID on the Acceleration Circuits tab or click an instance ID on the GA Instances tab to view the instance details in the GA console.

• If the value of Binding Status is Bound, the GA instance is bound to an acceleration circuit in ApsaraVideo Live.

  Do not modify the settings, such as the acceleration region and listener, of the GA instance in the GA console. Your modification may affect the use of the acceleration circuit.

• If the value of Binding Status is Unbound, the GA instance is idle and not bound to an acceleration circuit in ApsaraVideo Live.

  After you delete an acceleration circuit, the binding status of the corresponding GA instance may become Unbound. To avoid continued billing of the GA instance, you can click the instance ID to go to the GA console and delete the GA instance.