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Number Systems and YouTube Video IDs - In 100 words or less

With upwards of 500 hours of video uploaded every minute, there is the question of exhaustion - Will YouTube ever run out of Video IDs? 


A unique sequence of 11 random characters identifies a video. This compact and readable format has a deadly weapon, however. It harnesses the power of higher-order number systems.


YouTube uses the base 64 number system(0-9, a-z, A-Z, - and _). So, Youtube can store 64^11 videos, enough for every human to upload a video every minute for 18,000 years. 


While we technically can exhaust IDs, the solution is simple - just add another character!


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