A method includes storing entries in a first first-in first-out (FIFO) buffer, each entry of the first FIFO buffer includes a respective segment of plural segments of a first data stream and timing attributes corresponding to the respective segment. The method also includes processing the respective segments in entries output from the first FIFO buffer using a first media processing task of a workflow in a network-based media processing (NBMP) system. The respective segments are processed independently from each other and the first media processing task is performed in a cloud computing environment. The method also includes generating a continuous data stream by concatenating the processed segments according to the timing attributes corresponding to the processed segments.