Because of an unusually high demand, Netflix usage was limited during finals week last quarter. Twenty-eight percent of Ohio University’s Internet was occupied by streaming entertainment media, something that piqued the interest of university officials.
IT Communications Manager Sean O’Malley said Internet connectivity was uncommonly slow.
“The demand for Internet capacity simply exceeded the capacity that was available,” he said. “Things got very slow, and several sites were inaccessible.”
The server’s problems were connected to the amount of people watching Netflix at once, rather than one person’s usage, O’Malley said.
“Ninety-nine percent of the people out there probably wouldn’t notice the change. If they do, it may be because things are a bit faster,” he said. “We were looking at a small percentage of people using large amounts of bandwidth.
Those folks will notice the difference. But, you’ve got to work pretty hard to consume that much all the time.”
Parker Rom, a sophomore studying political science and Netflix user of six years, said he was inconvenienced by the limit put on Netflix usage.
“Limiting access to Netflix was not the right move,” he said. “I feel that they should have instead repaired the server right then.”
O’Malley said that he first began to see an increase in demand in January, following Winter Intercession.
“I’ve been calling it the ‘Christmas effect,’” he said. “We have no evidence to support this, but our guess is that lots of people got Wi-Fi-enabled devices as Christmas presents.”
Netflix instant streaming became available as an iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch application in August. Netflix can also be accessed through various videogame consoles.
“Our server was designed to support one person per device, but now it seems people may have multiple personal devices that they can use to access the Internet,” O’Malley said.
Although not a Netflix subscriber himself, O’Malley said he sees the attraction.
“If I had the bandwidth at home, I’d probably be a Netflix subscriber. It’s a lot easier than going out to check out a movie, then also remember to return it,” he said. “I have watched Netflix movies at friends’ houses. It is quite impressive just to be able to queue it up and stream an HD movie.”
Rom said he has watched Netflix grow in popularity.
“Netflix definitely appeals to the college student,” he said. “There are so many shows and movies available to stream, some are even HD. It’s so cheap and convenient.”
O’Malley said the goal is to allow everyone reasonable access to broadband.
“We have close to 8,000 students living on campus. They call the university home, and for a lot of people, home includes access to Internet-based entertainment.”
Citing advancements in technology, O’Malley said OU is not the only school to struggle with supporting so much streaming content.
“Internet providers all across the country are going to have to figure out how to deal with the growing popularity of streaming media,” he said.
cd234008@ohiou.edu
@ThePostCulture
