Harnessing the power of P2P
Content Agenda
By Jennifer Netherby -- Video Business, 11/14/2008 3:31:00 PM
ONCE viewed as movie studio enemy No. 1, peer-to-peer networks are getting another look as a legitimate way to deliver video content online.
P2P can deliver video cheaper than traditional content delivery networks, scale more easily and already has the ability to reach the farthest ends of the Earth immediately.
But it has its issues: P2P can’t easily deliver high quality live video streams, Internet Service Providers like Comcast have tried or threatened to slow down P2P content due to the strain it causes their networks, and the system is reliant on peer computers for delivery, which raises security concerns.
Given the limitations, P2P companies are positioning themselves as a complement to traditional content delivery networks rather than a replacement. Their biggest selling point is their cost advantage.
With a traditional CDN, each additional viewer costs more money (though, the more viewers you have the cheaper it is per viewer.) Bigger file sizes, more common as video quality improves, also boost costs. With P2P, the economic model is similar to broadcast - additional viewers don’t add additional costs.
“The more you deliver, the more money you lose with CDN,” Pando Networks CEO Robert Levitan said. “The majority of businesses online delivering video lose money on digital delivery. That’s got to change.”
Pando Networks is working with NBC in a beta test to deliver ad-supported TV show downloads using P2P to accelerate delivery over a CDN network. NBC specifies a speed for delivery and Pando’s network works with the CDN to determine whether there are enough nearby peers to deliver the episode at the specified rate or whether the CDN network is needed.
“It’s changing the economics for NBC,” Levitan said.
Kontiki, which has worked with the BBC and Channel 4 to deliver video via P2P in the U.K., partnered with traditional CDN Velocix for its P2P+ service in July.
Velocix chief marketing officer John Dillon likens its hybrid service to a hybrid car: The electric motor runs the car to save gas, but when the driver needs extra power, the gas engine kicks in.
If a movie is popular, lots of other peer subscribers will have it and their computers can be used for delivery. For movies that are less popular, the CDN network kicks in.
Grid Networks has incorporated CDN servers into its managed P2P network, which CEO Tony Naughton calls “managed edge-serving.” Grid’s system chooses which peer computers are used for delivery and manages the entire session. The system uses CDN as a backup. In addition to saving money, Naughton said Grid Networks believes it can allow content providers to scale to a Nielsen-sized audience, which has yet to be done online.
Eric Klinker, chief technology officer of P2P heavyweight BitTorrent, says P2P must still address quality issues to make the online video experience rival that of TV’s quality and ease. But he says P2P has already proven its potential, noting that BitTorrent is now responsible for half of all Internet traffic.
“At the end of day benefits clear and it will play a role,” he said.
In their bid for the mainstream, P2P companies are also making nice with Internet Service Providers to relieve traffic on ISP networks.
