Is Netflix Planning to Implement P2P Streaming?

Inspired perhaps by pirate home cinema app Popcorn Time, it seems Netflix is considering peer-to-peer (P2P) support for its video streaming service. A recent job post by the company for a Senior Software Engineer suggests that it sees P2P as the latest technological step for its media platform, which specifically lists BitTorrent and P2P as desirable skills.

The job listing reads:

We are looking for an experienced, talented and highly-motivated Senior Software Engineer with a strong background in networking and full-stack web application development. Our team is evaluating up-and-coming content distribution technologies, and we are seeking a highly talented senior engineer to grow the knowledge base in the area of peer-to-peer technologies and lead the technology design and prototyping effort.

As a senior member of the team, you will be expected to drive the requirements of the project throughout its lifecycle: architecture/design, implementation, testing, release (for internal use), evaluation and support. You will need to exhibit strong leadership and communication skills, while successfully setting and executing on the engineering and release priorities in a dynamic application development environment. This is a great opportunity to enhance your full-stack development skills, and simultaneously grow your knowledge of the state of the art in peer-to-peer content distribution and network optimization techniques.

Minimum Job Qualifications:

– You are curious about and analyze systems that other people take for granted

– You like to figure out how systems work and how you can improve them

– You have at least five years of full-stack web application software development experience

– You have a solid understanding of how to make systems and software more secure

– You have a successful track record of delivering quality results in cross-functional projects

– You have solid understanding of the software development process and the task involved 

– You have experience with peer-to-peer protocols such as the BitTorrent protocol

The move to P2P makes a lot of sense, increasing streaming quality while reducing overheads, priming Netflix to launch more 4K content to even more customers.

Thank you Torrent Freak for providing us with this information.

Image courtesy of Wikimedia.