How Netflix Scaled Its Data Pipeline Architecture

Published: May 2025 • Category: Insights

A Need for Scale and Speed

As Netflix’s subscriber base grew globally, the volume of streaming data skyrocketed. To continue delivering personalized recommendations with minimal delay, Netflix needed a more scalable, real-time data architecture.

Architectural Shift

Netflix transitioned to a microservices-based data platform. Core technologies included:

• Apache Kafka: For scalable message streaming and log processing
• Apache Flink: For real-time transformation and analytics
• S3 & Presto: For storage and interactive querying

Results

This redesign reduced latency in Netflix’s recommendation engine, improved viewing engagement, and allowed for real-time experimentation. The system now ingests billions of events daily.

Industry Impact

Netflix’s model has influenced how other large-scale content platforms architect their data pipelines, especially those seeking a balance of speed, personalization, and reliability.

Source: Netflix Tech Blog