Akamai Technologies, a provider of cloud services for online content and business applications, in partnership with Juniper Networks has demonstrated an Elastic Content Delivery Network (CDN) system designed to address the challenges in video delivery networks.
The CDN aims to provide network operators with a scalable CDN solution helping them launch innovative multiscreen video services by dynamically scaling network resources to support content spikes resulting from the broadcast of large events.
The solution leverages Akamai’s virtualized Aura Licensed CDN (LCDN) software and Juniper Networks Contrail Controller for software-defined networking (SDN) and network function virtualization (NFV).
Since this Elastic CDN concept runs on virtualization platforms, it does not require dedicated hardware. It also eliminates the hurdles associated with long lead times and extensive planning for capacity addition.
The Elastic CDN leverages Juniper Networks Contrail to quickly configure virtual network resources within a virtual CDN, and allows additional caching capacity to be deployed in minutes instead of weeks, according to company officials.
Operating in an OpenStack environment, the combined solution is designed to help reduce time and cost associated with adding new caching capacity to the network, decreasing both capital and operational expense, the company claims.
The technology demonstration features scalable caching within the operator network. Caches are decoupled from dedicated hardware and can be deployed in minutes to meet variable traffic demands.
Caching capacity can be added to existing data center resources throughout the network, or more cost-effectively deployed into new micro data centers closer to the subscriber edge.
The network virtualization technology ensures connectivity between disparate caching resources. Through intelligent analytics and network performance monitoring, Quality of Service (QoS) levels are closely tracked to enable a network operator to monitor and improve the end user experience.
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