Advanced Content Delivery, Streaming, and Cloud Services

Chapter 17Next-Generation CDN: A CoBlitz Perspective

Vivek S. Pai

Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA

17.1 Introduction

Previous chapters have discussed the mechanics and operation of pure-play content delivery networks (CDNs), operated by CDN service providers. This chapter focuses on a variety of next-generation CDNs, specifically those addressing markets other than pure-play CDNs. Although pure-play CDNs are still the dominant form of CDN-based traffic, a number of CDN variants have arisen to address different market needs and requirements. Some of these needs may be entirely strategic or operational—that a CDN may be viewed as something so central to the delivery infrastructure of a company that it would like to have more direct control over one. In other cases, organizations may view their CDN needs as so basic that they feel they can gain operational efficiency by running their own rather than negotiating prices with pure-play providers. This chapter discusses a number of next-generation CDNs, such as those operated by carriers, those managed by CDN service providers on behalf of a carrier, CDNs that are federated between different organizations, and finally licensed CDNs where CDN technology is sold as a building block. This chapter concludes with a case study of one such licensed CDN, CoBlitz.

In the original CDN model, now called pure-play CDNs, the CDN service provider runs the CDN as a business and tries to attract content providers to use it. The CDN service ...