This white paper outlines the limitations of proxy cache networks, presents the attributes and benefits of an ideal solution, and suggests that BitGravity has designed a content delivery system that addresses the needs in marketplace at an affordable price.
The Limitations of EDGE Proxy Caching NetworksA BitGravity White PaperSummer 2008
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Confidential. Proprietary to BitGravity. Not Authorized for Publication.The Limitations of EDGE Proxy Caching Networks
Executive Summary...................................................................................1
Early Influences of the Internet on CDN Architecture..............................2 Limited Peering Points.......................................................................2 Hardware Latency.............................................................................3 High Packet Loss..............................................................................3 Expensive Bandwidth Costs...............................................................3
Design of First Generation CDNs - Edge Networks................................3 Complex Routing and Management...................................................3 Suboptimized for Large Files.............................................................4 Costly Expansion and Management...................................................4 Scalability.......................................................................................4
The Limitations of First-Generation CDNs Given Today's Internet .......................................................................4
Defining the Ideal CDN for Today's Internet .................................5 Superior Performance.......................................................................5 No Caching.....................................................................................5 No Failure Points.............................................................................5 High Reliability.................................................................................5 Affordable.......................................................................................6
BitGravity's CDN Affordably Delivers Superior Performance with High Reliability .........................................................6 Unparalleled Performance................................................................7 Reliability.........................................................................................7 Affordability.....................................................................................7 Features..........................................................................................7 Quick Implementation......................................................................7
Performance Difference............................................................................8 Domestic Throughput.......................................................................8 Average Time to First Byte................................................................8
The BitGravity Advantage.......................................................................9
Confidential. Proprietary to BitGravity. Not Authorized for Publication.Executive SummaryEdge proxy caching networks-traditional content distribution networks (CDNs)-which were designed and optimized for caching small image and HTML files, have been highly effective over the last decade in pushing the Internet forward. Digital Island, Akamai, and Speedera were pioneers in this space. Without them, our experience on the early Internet would have been unbearable. The first gen-eration of CDNs improved Web page load times by storing content on servers closer to the end-user which eliminated the latency caused by the repetitive long round-trips that was required to fetch a Web page from the originating Web server. To make this effective and inexpensive across a large audience of online users, servers needed to be hosted on the ISPs network at each of the points where users dialed in or points of presence (PoPs). With thousands of ISPs, each with hundreds of POPs, tens of thousands of servers were required for a CDN to provide adequate coverage.
Given the scale required to maintain CDNs across multiple ISPs and the evolu-This white paper outlines tion of the marketplace, including the growth of the Internet, increasing down-the limitations of Edge loading speeds, increased average file sizes, and newer applications such as caching networks given video on demand, IP to television, and live broadcasting, Edge caching networks the historical problem they present s... [download for more]
