Cloudflare تطلق أول CDN يدعم Media over QUIC، مُعلنةً عصرًا جديدًا للبث الحي على الويب

Cloudflare has officially launched the first Media over QUIC (MoQ) Content Delivery Network (CDN), marking a pivotal moment in real-time media streaming. This technical preview, available on Cloudflare’s global anycast network, introduces a new standard poised to challenge established protocols like WebRTC, HLS/DASH, and even RTMP/SRT. The announcement comes as a direct response to the slow pace of standardization, with Cloudflare choosing to act now rather than wait for final RFC approval—echoing the mantra: “Just build something.” The core of the offering is a public relay endpoint at relay.cloudflare.mediaoverquic.com, accessible via multiple clients supporting draft-07 of the MoQ specification, including Cloudflare’s own implementation and forks from developers like Mike, Lorenzo, Meta’s moxygen, and others. Users can publish and watch live streams using simple web components: <hang-publish> and <hang-watch>, which enable browser-based broadcasting with optional audio, video, and even AI-powered closed captions generated in real time using onnxruntime-web, WebGPU, and models like Whisper and Silero-VAD. Behind the scenes, the project leverages a lightweight JavaScript library called @kixelated/hang, which offers a powerful API for advanced use cases—such as accessing individual video frames, integrating machine learning models, or building custom renderers. A Rust-based library is also available for developers wanting to integrate MoQ with FFmpeg, GStreamer, or run custom relays, though the focus remains on web compatibility and broad accessibility. Despite its promise, the release is still a preview. Cloudflare supports only a limited subset of the draft, and the implementation is based on a fork of early, imperfect code—meaning bugs are expected. Features like authentication via JWT and WebSocket fallbacks for Safari support have been added, and there’s even a Terraform module to deploy a minimal global MoQ relay using three nodes on GCP (though it’s far from free). For those eager to experiment further, self-hosting is possible—even on private networks—with some TLS configuration effort. The broader significance lies in the shift from theoretical standardization to real-world deployment. After over three years of development, including early drafts and contentious committee discussions, Cloudflare’s move signals that innovation can’t wait for consensus. The goal is to gather production feedback and shape the protocol’s evolution through actual usage—just as QUIC did, years before its RFC was finalized. The developer behind the initiative, @kixelated, emphasizes that MoQ isn’t meant to be perfect yet—it’s meant to be used. The vision is to eventually replace fragmented, legacy streaming systems with a unified, efficient, and modern protocol built on QUIC’s foundations. The community is invited to join the Discord (now with 900+ members), contribute, and help drive the next phase of development. While JavaScript remains a “nightmare” in the developer’s view, the tooling is functional and evolving. The future includes experimental features like real-time object detection in streams—potentially paving the way for intelligent, interactive live media. For now, the message is clear: MoQ is no longer just a draft. It’s live, it’s running, and it’s time to start building.