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The evolving role of content delivery networks

Content Agenda

By Jennifer Netherby -- Video Business, 11/14/2008 3:21:00 PM

With the Future of Television conference opening in New York on Tuesday, Nov. 18, complete with a special online video track co-presented by
Content Agenda and Digital Media Wire, we asked Jennifer Netherby to look some of the evolving technology challenges facing online content distributors.

TRADITIONAL content delivery networks are far and away the primary way to deliver video online today, handling everything from Netflix movie streaming to TV downloads from Apple iTunes.
CDNs from Akamai to Limelight have spent hundreds of millions placing servers close to people worldwide where content is stored so that it can be instantaneously streamed or downloaded securely at a consistent quality.
But with software developers creating new streaming platforms to speed video delivery over the last mile, CDNs from industry leader Akamai to Limelight Networks to newer entrants AT&T and BitGravity are incorporating new software technologies into their networks and even partnering with peer-to-peer companies (see related story link here) to more efficiently deliver the next generation of video.
Most, like Akamai’s digital media group chief strategist Tim Napoleon, believe CDN networks will still play a key role in online delivery “if you have a customer service model where you want to give everyone an identical experience and want the experience to be very good.”
So, pretty much every major media company. But some question whether the thousands of server locations CDNs operate will become unnecessary in coming years as newer technologies take hold.
Akamai (Apple iTunes’ deliveryman) claims the largest global CDN network, with more servers closer to more people worldwide. Napoleon says more locations means cheaper delivery because content doesn’t have to travel around the world before reaching its destination. “The content is where people are,” he said.
Akamai has also used its reach and access to Internet traffic patterns in its application accelerator, which speeds up content delivery by routing traffic along the fastest path, not always the direct path.
It’s not the only believer.
In July, AT&T announced it would invest $70 million this year to build out its own CDN network, which the company can package with its hosting and application management services to optimize delivery, said Jim Daugherty, AT&T executive director and product marketing manager. Daugherty said AT&T plans to provide a broader range of delivery services yet to be announced.
Established CDN Level 3, which will deliver video for the Democratic National Convention, is continuing to build out its network, adding new locations as demand grows. At the same time, it has focused “maniacally” on reducing costs, said Mark Taylor, senior VP of strategy and business development for content markets.
One of the biggest challenge traditional CDNs face is cost – the more users that download a video, the costlier it is for content providers.
Other new entrants into the space say newer technology means not as many server locations are needed to deliver even high definition video quickly.
Rather than operate thousands of servers around the world, EdgeCast Networks has just 14 locations at the connection points for major ISPs worldwide.
EdgeCast has focused on giving content providers more control over their content to compete, said president James Segil. For example, if a studio is putting out a movie, the trailer can be stored in its servers around the world until a set release time or it can be limited to play in certain regions.
BitGravity founder Peter Wu says content providers are increasingly interested in live HD content and interactivity, something it argues its newer network can do more easily than systems that have more edge locations because it was built to deliver video, not jpegs.
Technicolor, which operates a CDN as part of its distribution services for its studio partners, has expanded in the space through its acquisition of Cinecast and now a partnership with Highwinds to accelerate content delivery, particularly streaming.
Relying on newer CDN technology, the company has just two edge networks in the U.S. and has been able to send something from Los Angeles to Paris as fast as if the two cities were next door to each other, said Scott Dougall, head of the company’s Electronic Distribution Services business.
He and others say CDN will continue to play the starring role in content delivery.
“It’s proven and it works,” he said.

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