# What is AWS Elemental MediaConnect? AWS Elemental MediaConnect is a service that makes it easy for broadcasters and other premium video providers to reliably ingest live video into the AWS Cloud and distribute it to multiple destinations inside or outside the AWS Cloud. MediaConnect provides the reliability, security, and visibility that you are used to with existing distribution methods, combined with the flexibility and cost-effectiveness that internet-based transmission provides. For ingest, you send content to AWS Elemental MediaConnect from an on-premises contribution encoder, which encodes your video into a single, high-quality mezzanine file for contribution into the cloud. After the video is in the AWS Cloud, MediaConnect sends it to outputs that you specify, such as a cloud encoder, another MediaConnect flow, or an on-premises destination. The following illustration shows the basic workflow of how AWS Elemental MediaConnect ingests live video into the cloud and securely distributes it to multiple destinations. ![\[This illustration shows the basic workflow of how AWS Elemental MediaConnect ingests live video into the cloud and securely distributes it to multiple destinations.\]](http://docs.aws.amazon.com/mediaconnect/latest/ug/images/workflow.png) In AWS Elemental MediaConnect, you create a *flow* to establish a transport between a source and one or more outputs. You can also share content with other AWS accounts by creating *entitlements*. This allows the receiving account to create a flow using your content as the source. With AWS Elemental MediaConnect, you can do the following: + Ingest live video into the AWS Cloud. + Distribute live video to multiple destinations inside or outside the AWS Cloud. + Subscribe to a live video stream that is supplied by another AWS account. (This requires permission from the content originator through an entitlement.) + Send content from one AWS Region to another. **Topics** + [MediaConnect concepts and terminology](what-is-concepts.md) + [Accessing MediaConnect](what-is-accessing.md) + [Pricing for MediaConnect](what-is-pricing.md) + [Regions and endpoints for MediaConnect](what-is-regions.md) + [AWS Elemental MediaConnect open-source attributions](mediaconnect-os-attributions.md) # MediaConnect concepts and terminology To help you get started with AWS Elemental MediaConnect, and to understand how it works, refer to the following key concepts and terminology. Allowlist CIDR A range of Classless Inter-Domain Routing (CIDR) IP addresses permitted to contribute content to your MediaConnect flow or router input. In the MediaConnect API, this value is specified using the `WhitelistCidr` parameter. Contribution encoder An encoder that receives a live video feed and encodes the stream into a single, high-quality mezzanine stream for transportation or further processing into an adaptive bitrate (ABR) stream. Destination A physical or virtual connection point in your downstream environment that receives content from MediaConnect. A destination might be an affiliate, a cloud encoder, an on-premises decoder, another MediaConnect flow, a MediaConnect router input, or a MediaLive input. In flows, you define destinations by adding outputs. In the router, you create router outputs that connect to your destination endpoints. Entitlement A permission that allows an AWS account (the subscriber) to access the content in a specific MediaConnect flow. The content originator grants an entitlement to the subscriber account, which can then create a flow using the originator's content as the source. Flow A connection between one or more video sources and one or more outputs. For each flow, you specify the protocol to use, encryption information, and details about the source. The service replicates and distributes the video to every output that you specify, whether inside or outside the AWS Cloud. Input A connection point in MediaConnect that receives content from a source. In flows, the flow's source configuration acts as the input. In the router, a router input is a dedicated resource that receives content and can be routed to multiple outputs simultaneously. Media stream A single track of video, audio, or ancillary data. Media streams are used with CDI and ST 2110 JPEG XS flows, where content is demuxed into separate tracks. Each source or output can consist of one or many media streams. Mezzanine stream A lightly compressed video stream that takes up less space than a full resolution uncompressed stream. The quality is high enough to use as a source for creating final encodes delivered to consumer devices. NDI (Network Device Interface) A standard developed by NewTek (now Vizrt) that enables video-compatible products to communicate, deliver, and receive high-definition video over a standard Ethernet network. NDI allows multiple video systems to share video across a network in real time with low latency. MediaConnect supports NDI as both a source and output type for flows, enabling integration with NDI-based production environments. Network interface The network configuration that determines how MediaConnect resources connect to other resources. In flows, a VPC interface provides private connectivity between a flow and your Amazon VPC. Flows use public networking by default. In the router, a network interface can be either public (for connecting over the internet) or VPC (for connecting to resources within your VPC), and is associated with one or more router I/Os. Offering A discount that MediaConnect offers in exchange for a commitment to use a certain amount of outbound bandwidth each month. When you purchase an offering, it becomes a reservation. Output A connection point in MediaConnect that sends content to a destination. In flows, an output defines where and how the service delivers video. In the router, a router output is a dedicated resource that sends content and can receive from only one input at a time. Protocol A set of rules used for video and audio transmission. MediaConnect provides protocol options (such as SRT, RTP, RTP-FEC, RIST, Zixi, and NDI) that implement a quality of service (QoS) layer for mezzanine-quality live video. Supported protocols differ between flows and the router. Reservation A commitment to use a specific amount of outbound bandwidth each month over a specified duration. In return, you pay a discounted hourly rate. Reservations are created by purchasing an offering. Route The complete end-to-end path from an input to an output within the router. Routes are defined by input-to-output assignments. Router A MediaConnect capability that provides dynamic, software-defined signal routing for live video in the cloud. A router can accept multiple inputs simultaneously and route any input to any output on demand. Routers are designed for use cases such as master control, live cloud production, playout, and contribution workflows. Source A physical or virtual connection point in your upstream environment that transmits content into MediaConnect. A source might be an on-premises contribution encoder, an NDI device, another MediaConnect flow, or a MediaLive channel output. In flows, you configure sources when you create or update a flow. A standard source comes from outside of MediaConnect, while an entitled source comes from a flow owned by another AWS account that has granted an entitlement to your account. In the router, you connect sources to router inputs. # Accessing MediaConnect You can access AWS Elemental MediaConnect using any of the following methods: + **AWS Management Console** – The procedures throughout this guide explain how to use the AWS Management Console to perform tasks for MediaConnect. To access MediaConnect using the console: ``` https://.console.aws.amazon.com/mediaconnect/home ``` + **AWS Command Line Interface** – For more information, see the [AWS Command Line Interface User Guide](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/cli/latest/userguide/). To access MediaConnect using the CLI endpoint: ``` aws mediaconnect ``` + **AWS Elemental MediaConnect API** – For information about API actions and about how to make API requests, see the [AWS Elemental MediaConnect API Reference](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/mediaconnect/latest/api/). To access MediaConnect using the REST API endpoint: ``` https://mediaconnect..amazonaws.com ``` + **AWS SDKs** – If you're using a programming language that AWS provides an SDK for, you can use an SDK to access AWS Elemental MediaConnect. SDKs simplify authentication, integrate easily with your development environment, and provide easy access to MediaConnect commands. For more information, see [Tools for Amazon Web Services](https://aws.amazon.com/tools). + **AWS Tools for Windows PowerShell** – For more information, see the [AWS Tools for PowerShell User Guide](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/powershell/latest/userguide/). # Pricing for MediaConnect As with other AWS products, there are no contracts or minimum commitments for using MediaConnect. For transport stream flows, you are charged a per hour fee when the flow is running, and a per GB fee for output delivered to the internet. You are also charged a per GB fee for input or output data within the same Region. In general, higher bitrate flows accrue higher charges per hour. For CDI flows, you are charged a per hour fee when the flow is running, and a per hour fee for each output delivered to any destination. Running flow rates and per output rates change according to the size of the video. SD outputs are less expensive than HD outputs, which are less expensive than UHD outputs. For more information on both types of flows, see [AWS Elemental MediaConnect Pricing](https://aws.amazon.com/mediaconnect/pricing/). # Regions and endpoints for MediaConnect To reduce data latency in your applications, AWS Elemental MediaConnect offers a regional endpoint to make your requests: ``` https://mediaconnect..amazonaws.com ``` To view the complete list of AWS Regions where MediaConnect is available, see [AWS Elemental MediaConnect endpoints and quotas](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/general/latest/gr/mediaconnect.html) in the AWS General Reference. # AWS Elemental MediaConnect open-source attributions To view the open-source components used by MediaConnect, download the following file: + [MediaConnectOpenSourceAttributions.zip](samples/MediaConnectOpenSourceAttributions.zip)