Linode solves Sensr.net’s bandwidth, load balancing, and uptime challenges for one-third the price of AWS

Sensr.net is a cloud-based video monitoring platform that allows users to view, share, and store video feeds from Internet-enabled cameras. Founded in 2009 and based in Incline Village, NV, Sensr.net offers a service that applies motion-detection algorithms to each feed, providing an automatic form of surveillance. Users can receive text message alerts if a monitored area has been opened and can share camera views on social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook. Sensr.net also provides a widget for embedding live streams on websites or blogs. The company was founded by CEO Adam Beguelin, who conceived the idea while monitoring his home over the Internet during a sabbatical in Vietnam. Sensr.net serves a diverse range of customers, including homeowners, municipalities, and businesses such as Mission: Cats, Norway Boats, and Miami Kiteboarding. Pangea Real Estate, for example, uses hundreds of cameras on Sensr.net to monitor its apartment complexes in the United States and builds custom interfaces using the Sensr.net API.

Sensr.net captures video 24/7 from thousands of cameras across the globe. Its tech-savvy customers generally deploy several cameras, some setting up as many as 800. From those cameras, Sensr.net handles 70 million uploads every day and accordingly needs to process a great deal of video—nearly half as much as that processed by YouTube. For every two terabytes of incoming data Sensr.net processes, four gigabytes of data is sent out. Handling this digital load can be a challenging task for any server. All of the visual data necessitates abundant bandwidth, especially for incoming feeds. The most recent 30 days of video for every customer is stored in the cloud, with still-shot screen captures that enable users to quickly sort through and review footage. In 2008, as Beguelin and his colleagues began evaluating solutions for their Web-hosting and cloud-computing needs, they made bandwidth capacity their highest priority. Initially, Sensr.net considered ramping up its own on-site servers to manage the hosting themselves. Sensr.net quickly deemed this idea impractical because it would have demanded constant oversight and diligent maintenance and commensurate costs. With the expected growth of the business, Sensr.net needed a cloud host that not only could handle huge amounts of incoming data and traffic, but also could allow Sensr.net to scale server needs on the fly while guaranteeing minimal downtime, providing responsive just-in-time support with affordable, pay-as-you-grow pricing.

In January 2009, Sensr.net chose Linode to handle its hosting needs. Linode offered comprehensive cloud hosting, a proven track record, an affordable price, and perhaps most important, unlimited incoming bandwidth. Because of this latter advantage, going forward, Sensr.net would be able to effectively allocate its server capacity. This negated the concern over the variability and risk typically associated with handling disproportionate amounts of incoming video from customer webcams around the globe. Knowing its infrastructure needs were met, Sensr.net was soon up and running. “Linode’s API is excellent,” said Beguelin. “It’s very intuitive and we were able to set up what we needed very quickly with minimal fuss. This was especially helpful when deploying our new servers, allowing us to scale as much as we needed.” The fact that Beguelin and others at Sensr.net have a strong background in Linux was an added bonus. “Linode lets you choose which version of Linux to run,” he said. “This meant we didn’t need to learn a new programming environment. If you have a favorite version of Linux, you can use that, so we were able to simply carry-on as usual.” Sensr.net appreciates many of the features that come with Linode’s hosting solution. To accommodate its many customers and their thousands of webcams, Sensr.net requires custom DNS options and takes advantage of Linode’s DNS service. Sensr.net also values the ongoing backups that ensure data remains safe. Another important feature to Sensr.net is cloning. “The ability to clone servers essentially gives us ‘servers on demand,” said Beguelin, “so we can instantly scale our hosting efforts whenever necessary.” Linode’s support has also proven invaluable to Sensr.net, along with its multiple data centers housing Linode’s own hardware that are located at six sites in Europe, Asia and the United States. “You can allocate servers for traffic based on location, which minimizes latency issues. It’s really helpful,” Beguelin said. Linode’s control panel and various tools also give Sensr.net insight into its servers’ needs. With this insight, Sensr.net averts downtime by using redundant servers and optimizing performance through effective load balancing.

• Linode’s performance has exceeded Sensr.net’s expectations, providing exceptional service and support.
• Linode’s API is intuitive, allowing Sensr.net to set up and scale servers quickly and efficiently.
• Linode’s unlimited incoming bandwidth has enabled Sensr.net to handle large amounts of video data without concern.
• Linode’s control panel and tools provide insight into server needs, helping Sensr.net optimize performance and avoid downtime.
• Linode’s multiple data centers minimize latency issues by allowing server allocation based on traffic location.

• Linode has saved Sensr.net at least 33% on operational costs.