The folks at Netflix ran a most interesting post yesterday on the company’s technical blog (via ReadWriteWeb). According to the director of engineering, one Netflix device is responsible for roughly 50% of total API calls. The same device, however, isn’t responsible for a comparable level of streaming traffic. In order to cut down on the “chattiness” level, the Netflix team is looking at redesigning the API for greater efficiency. And while the engineers are at it, they figure they’ll play with reducing overall payload (bits delivered) at the same time.
It’s great that Netflix is planning to improve its API, but the story certainly makes me wonder: which Netflix device is causing all that trouble? Is it one that continually drops signal, as some have reported with their TiVo boxes? Or is it one with a more advanced and therefore more demanding UI, like Dave’s favorite, the PS3? Netflix certainly won’t name names, but perhaps somebody else out there has an educated guess. I’d say it’s not the Roku given how long the little-box-that-could has been out, and the fact that API requests started seriously spiking only a few months ago. Anyone else willing to speculate?