With the rise of TikTok, Youtube, and Facebook over the past 15 years, video is now an essential part of our daily lives. Gone are the blocky images, slow loading times, and audible dial tones of the 1990’s. With so many people uploading videos online, faster video encoding is more necessary than ever. 

The new partnership between ByteNite and Storj allows users to encode, store and manage videos at incredibly faster speeds. While most video encoders take one hour to encode a one-hour video, ByteNite finishes the same job in just 6 minutes. In this article, we will explore why ByteNite and Storj have the potential to revolutionize the video encoding sphere.

As a new user of ByteNite, you can get 1,000 ByteChips ($5) worth of free encoding work by using the code USESTORJ. 

How to Use The New Storj Option on ByteNite’s Platform

Are your video files saved in Storj and in need of encoding? ByteNite's Video Encoding Platform has made it possible for you to directly encode them. Thanks to our new partnership, you can download your original videos and upload the transcoded versions through Storj. To start encoding with ByteNite and Storj, follow the simple steps provided below or access the feature through our API. Get ready to unleash the full power of distributed computing!

Set up your credentials

In order to launch encoding jobs with the Storj integration, you will need to have a pair of S3 keys that you can generate from your Storj account. To get your S3 credentials from the Storj DCS panel, do the following:

• Log in / sign up to Storj from www.storj.io/signup.
• Go to the Access tab and select “Create S3 Credentials”.
• Choose an access name and follow the instructions.
• Set permissions:
  Select at least “Read” and  “List” access if you plan to retrieve videos from Storj.
  Select at least “Write” access if you plan to save videos to Storj.
• Save your keys somewhere secure on your computer.

Use Storj on ByteNite Video Encoding Platform

To load a video from your Storj bucket into a ByteNite encoding job, follow these simple steps: 

1. Go to the first page of your encoding job on the ByteNite platform and select "Source".
2. Choose "Storj" from the drop-down menu.
3. Paste your Access Key and Secret Key from your Storj S3 Credentials and click "Next".
4. Browse through your buckets and objects to find the video you want to use as input.

To make ByteNite output an encoded video to Storj, follow these steps:

1. On the first page of your encoding job, select "Destination".
2. Choose "Storj" from the options available in the drop-down menu.
3. Paste your Access Key and Secret Key from your Storj S3 Credentials.
4. Type in the name of the bucket where you want to save your video.
5. Select the corresponding cloud region from the options available in the drop-down menu.
6. Specify the file path where you want to save the video inside the bucket. If the path does not exist, it will be generated automatically.

That's it! You're all set to start encoding.

Use Storj with ByteNite API

To set up and run a video encoding job via the ByteNite API with the Storj integration, you can follow the steps below. We recommend checking out this Python notebook that covers all the steps and is ready for use.

1. Create a new job via a POST request to https://api.bytenite.com/v1/customer/jobs
2. Set your Storj data source and destination and POST it to https://api.bytenite.com/v1/customer/jobs/datasource/{job_id}
3. Submit your encoding parameters via a POST request to https://api.bytenite.com/v1/customer/jobs/params/{job_id}
4. Run your job via a POST request to https://api.bytenite.com/v1/customer/jobs/run/{job_id}

For a comprehensive guide on ByteNite API, please refer to the documentation available at https://github.com/ByteNite2/bytenite-api-docs. Additionally, you may want to explore Storj’s Docs to get the tools to build more complex pipelines using Storj APIs, like recurring workflows and watch folders.

What is Storj?

Storj is a decentralized cloud storage platform that allows customers to store their data on a global network of nodes. It is designed to be more secure, reliable, and affordable than traditional cloud storage providers. Storj uses a peer-to-peer network to store data, which means that data is not stored in a single location. This makes it more difficult for hackers to access data, and it also makes the network more resilient to outages. Storj's decentralized nature also leads to lower overhead costs than centralized cloud providers, resulting in more affordable pricing for customers who only pay for the storage they use.

What is ByteNite?

ByteNite is a video encoding service that compresses video at a stunningly fast speed using distributed computing technology. Companies compress video to reduce the number of bits in a video so that they take up less space while maintaining the same image quality. Encoding video can also change the file format, codec, aspect ratio, or dimensions (also referred to as “transcoding”). Effective compression makes it easier for VOD companies to stream video online without having to “buffer”.

With ByteNite, you only pay for each job you need to be done. The prices start at just 0.01 cents per minute. You can easily set up encoding jobs through a four-step process on ByteNite's Video Encoding Platform. The platform offers customizable fields, including inputs and outputs, aspect ratio, dimensions, codec, frame rate, quality control, and audio parameters. Additionally, ByteNite provides prepared templates, clone jobs or multiple outputs, and the flexibility to pause work and resume later.

Though ByteNite is only two years old, it is already proven to be significantly faster than competitors like AWS and Google Cloud in a series of trials with a wide variety of codecs. Additionally, ByteNite’s parallelization technology is suited to longer videos and complex video workflows. As a startup, they are on the cutting edge of innovation and have access to the newest codecs, like LCEVC.

ByteNite, Storj, and the Power of Distributed Computing

The technology behind ByteNite’s stellar speeds is simple - the power of parallel processing. ByteNite uses grid computing, a distributed computing model where thousands of computers work together on a single task. ByteNite’s patent-pending technology divides video into “chunks” before sending them to common devices around the country. 

What sets grid computing apart from traditional or cloud computing is the sheer volume of devices that are eligible to join a network. With nearly 12 billion smartphones, tablets, and computers in the world today, the potential computing power of future grids is nearly limitless. In comparison to cloud computing, which relies on a fixed set of rack-mounted servers, grid computing projects have shown to be extremely scalable and resilient.

Conclusion: Lower Costs and Faster Times For All Users

The collaboration between Storj and ByteNite is mutually beneficial as it creates a central point for decentralized computing, giving customers access to storage and compute capabilities at a significantly lower cost than the traditional cloud option while also providing enhanced performance. Both ByteNite and Storj’s distributed technologies are energy-efficient, resulting in reduced hardware and electricity usage, which translates to cost savings that are passed on to the users. This provides companies with a cost-effective solution for storing and processing large amounts of data without negatively impacting their expenses.

As video content becomes increasingly popular, faster streaming and social media apps are playing a bigger role in our lives. By combining their strengths, ByteNite and Storj provide a secure and efficient alternative to traditional cloud computing. The partnership offers improved data security, faster storage and retrieval times, and lower costs, making it a win-win situation for both companies. 

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Get started with Storj: To learn more, get started here: storj.io/signup, and check out the documentation at docs.storj.io

‍Get started with ByteNite: To learn more, get started here: bytenite.com/video-encoding