Are you wondering how YouTube stores videos? As you know, storage is an eternal part of our lives. We can literally store everything, so later on, there is no issue of losing some data. YouTube has adopted the same strategy to store its gems. So, without further delay, let’s learn how YouTube stores videos.
What is the Total Storage Capacity of YouTube
Sorry to disappoint you, but there is no accurate answer to this, and no organization has a clear statement about the total capacity. However, we can assume the storage by connecting dots.
According to the Google data center website, the company has data centers in 41 locations. 6 in Asia, 13 in Europe, 20 in North America, 2 in South America. To provide context, a typical 1080p video of approximately 1 minute in length is around 150-250MB in size. A standard hard disk that can fit in your hand is 36TB. Everday day, approximately 43 million minutes of data are uploaded. So, if we calculate this, you would need approximately 240 hand-sized 36TB hard drives daily.
However, YouTube does not store the video files as they are; the videos we upload are compressed when stored in data centers. Compression codecs like VP9, AV1 & H.265 reduce file size. So the video you upload is larger than the video stored.
| 1 MegaByte | 1024 kB |
| 1 GigaByte | 1024 MB |
| 1 TeraByte | 1024 GB |
| 1 PetaByte | 1024 TB |
| 1 Exabyte | 1024 PB |
How YouTube Handles So Many Videos
Videos are stored on the hard drives of Google’s data centers. The data is managed by either Google’s file system or BigTable. Google’s file system manages large-scale data in a distributed environment, while BigTable is a low-latency system built by Google to manage petabyte-scale data with thousands of machines. Your videos are stored on hard drives, while all the critical details, such as metadata, user preferences, profile info, and account settings, are managed in MySQL to ensure smooth access and playback.
Plug-and-play commodity servers
Google’s data centers function with standardized hardware, and their software is custom-built to maintain massive clusters of servers. For the expansion of storage, Google uses affordable commodity servers that are off-the-shelf machines and easy to purchase in bulk. Instead of repairing these servers, Google tends to replace them with new ones for smoother operations. Whenever there’s a lack of storage, new servers are added seamlessly, making the infrastructure both scalable and cost-effective.
Storage disks designed for data centers
YouTube requires more petabytes of new storage daily. It heavily relies on spinning hard disk drives as they are affordable and reliable. Which are also called HDDs.
SSDs, or solid-state drives, are faster since they use semiconductor technology. But they aren’t an ideal choice for large-scale storage. They are also expensive and gradually lose data over time. Focus on speed, security, capacity, cost efficiency, and reliability while building hardware for data storage.
What Affects Storage Capacity of YouTube
The storage capacity can be affected by freeing up space or managing it effectively. Let’s see what factors affect:
Video Compression
As discussed, all the video creators uploads are compressed and reduced to a much lower size to store more data in one place. However, if the compression is not initiated properly, it can affect both storage and video quality.
Backups
The videos are backed up multiple times to ensure content is safe in difficult circumstances. This affects both the cost of storage and capacity. The highly watched videos are stored in various locations, affecting storage capacity.
How long YouTube Stores Your Data
YouTube stores all of your uploaded data securely. Even if you delete your content from YouTube, the data remains stored on YouTube’s servers in accordance with Google’s retention policy. Users can retain their data for a specific period or request that YouTube delete it.
According to Google’s policies, users can manage their content even if it is deleted. The other data, such as likes, comments, and playlist, remains there till you delete your whole account.
What is YouTube’s Single Upload Limit
The single video upload limit can be categorized in two parts. Verified YouTube account and non-verified. An unverified account can upload videos up to 15 minutes long. You can verify your account by visiting the YouTube verification page, where you will be prompted to enter your phone number. After doing so, you will receive an OTP (One-Time Password) via text message. Once done, your YouTube account is verified.
The verified account can upload long videos, but the maximum duration is 12 hours, and the file size should be under 256 GB.
Conclusion
We hope that we have answered your question about how YouTube stores videos. Although the information may be complex, we have explained it in simple language, even if you don’t have a technical background. You will understand how YouTube storage capacity works. How are your YouTube videos stored, and how are they compressed and distributed globally for a better viewing experience? Additionally, we have the upload limit of YouTube videos. So, verifying a YouTube account allows you to upload longer videos.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q1. How to get space in YouTube?
If you are looking to free up space in the YouTube app, then go to app settings and start by clearing cache. In iOS, you have to reinstall the app to clear cache.
Q2. Do videos stay on YouTube forever?
A video stays on YouTube if the creator hasn’t deleted it. The video may get removed if it violates YouTube guidelines or policies. Private videos on YouTube can be deleted, although they remain on YouTube’s cloud, but not necessarily forever.
Q3. How many GB are allowed in YouTube?
YouTube allows an upload limit of 256 GB per video. The account must be verified to upload files of such a large size.
Q4. How to increase YouTube storage?
To increase storage on phone, delete cache, offline videos, and disable smart download. You can also set a cap on storage limit.
