Squashing the Bugs: 6 Steps for Solving Video Streaming Problems

The quintessential tech support parody usually starts (or ends) with the question, “Is it plugged in?虽然这个简单的步骤经常被嘲笑, the question begins an investigative process to figure out what factors are causing the problem one is experiencing. In my work as a video solutions architect, my clients come to me with a wide range of problems. My first role in these 订婚s is to make sure everyone’s on the same page. I need to rewind the client’s memory back to that “Is it plugged in?” step, as I’m usually not the original architect of his or her technology process.

当我开始发现任何故障排除订婚, I aim to have clear communication with the client to get to a solution as quickly, 有效地, 而且尽可能便宜. 以下是我的一般指导原则:

概述技术栈: Ask for any documentation that shows each moving part in the system. 如果不存在，那就创造一个. 通过直播解决方案, 例如, I would want to know what servers (or services) are being deployed, 他们被部署在哪里, 玩家所使用的技术是什么, 等等.......

定义角色: What resources does the client already have on the project? Does the client identify the personnel on his or her end as stakeholders, 产品负责人, and development/design/quality assurance resources? Who has actively been trying to solve the problem already, and what was already done to try to find or remedy the problem? How familiar is each person on the team with the problem? What role(s) is the client expecting me to fulfill? Will I be finding and fixing the problem, or will other people execute tasks under my guidance?

首先寻找明显的答案: The longer I do my job, the more likely I’ve seen the same issue with other 订婚s and projects. Most problems have more apparent symptoms and causes (e.g., playback buffering caused by too high a bitrate and too low a connection speed). Obvious answers can also just be “fact of life” answers too—there might be a known problem with the technology in use, 而客户根本不知道. 例如, WebRTC support can vary widely from one browser to the next, and audio not playing in a live stream may just be the lack of a codec available on a particular browser or system.

重复问题(或不重复): After potential suspects have been lined up, isolate the issue by reproducing the problem consistently across different environments. If the problem is believed to be with a player technology, does the same problem occur with other player technologies?

建议解决方案: Devise a workaround to fix the immediate problem(s) at hand. If there’s a systemic issue that requires a major overhaul to an existing process, 确定需要哪些欧洲杯在哪投注, and provide estimates around 时间轴和预算. If there’s more than one potential path forward, 在欧洲杯在哪投注方面探索每一个, 时间轴, 和预算.

重新定义角色: 通常, there needs to be new roles devised and assigned in the team to make sure the project stays the course to completion. 太多次, I’ve encountered clients who couldn’t identify a product owner, someone responsible for steering product development. If there’s not a dedicated project manager, assign one or hire one. 提出解决方案后, there should be a clear path forward with respect to who’s doing what and how much time per week each resource will be available and/or assigned to the project.

当然, there can be much more to defining a problem and paving a path forward than I’ve discussed here, but make sure you don’t skip past or underestimate the effort and time required to complete a thorough discovery—there just might be an overlooked unplugged item at play.

[This article appears in the October 2019 issue of 流媒体杂志 作为“发现:定义问题”."]