Design a YouTube/Netflix video platform
Company: Meta
Role: Software Engineer
Category: System Design
Difficulty: medium
Interview Round: Onsite
Design a video platform similar to YouTube/Netflix.
Requirements:
- Upload videos (for YouTube-like) and/or ingest catalog (for Netflix-like).
- Transcode into multiple bitrates/resolutions.
- Stream videos reliably at scale with low startup latency.
- Support resumable uploads and playback progress.
Out of scope: recommendations, ads, DRM deep details.
Quick Answer: This question evaluates a candidate's understanding of distributed systems architecture, media processing and delivery concepts including upload resiliency, transcoding into multiple bitrates, scalable storage and low-latency streaming.