CDN 101: How do CDNs help to Speed up a Website?

With the growing need for fast websites (thanks to impatient web users), it’s evident that CDNs are must-have utilities. In fact, CDNs form the transparent and undisclosed backbone of the Internet. Whether you know it or not, this web page (and most of the online traffic) is served to you using CDNs. “A Content Delivery […]

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Netflix launches ‘Super HD’ and 3D streaming — but only through certain ISPs

Netflix launches Super HD, 3D streaming  but only through certain ISPs

Rumors that Netflix was offering ISPs access to higher quality streams in return for partnering on distribution surfaced early last year, and were followed by the announcement of its Open Connect CDN network in June. Now the full picture has been revealed with the company's announcement of "Super HD" 1080p and (in the US only, for now) 3D streaming, which comes to its customers at no extra cost, but only on certain devices plugged in to to Open Connect partner ISPs. The hardware list includes PS3, WiiU, Windows 8, Roku, Apple TVs as well as Blu-ray playrers and smart TVs with 1080p support.

According to Netflix, most of its international streams are already going through compatible ISPs, however the only major participants announced in the US currently are Cablevision and Google Fiber. Watch Instantly customers can see if their ISP on the list by visiting the Super HD page and, if it isn't, they're encouraged to call and ask for it. Netflix's ability to manage bandwidth will be increasingly important and the ISPs customers access its with and along with those rankings, "Super HD" is an important lure to get them to play ball.

We've been seeing some 3D ready titles pop up on the service in the last few weeks and now viewers can access titles like Art of Flight, Immortals and several titles from 3net.According to Dan Rayburn of Streaming Media Blog, the higher quality encodes are targed for 7Mbps, while 3D streams top out at 12Mbps. One question that lingers is how this quality bump aligns with recent changes some customers have noticed (if X-High suddenly reappears...), but until we get our eyes on the higher quality streams it's hard to tell. Reed Hastings says he wants all Netflix customers served by Open Connect (whether via colocated appliances or peered at common internet exchanges) as soon as possible -- we'll see if Comcast, Time Warner, Verizon, AT&T and the rest have a similar dream.

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Source: Netflix Super HD

Facebook starts really, truly deleting removed photos

Facebook expanded photos

For those who haven't kept track, Facebook has had a years-long history of only maybe-sort-of-more-or-less purging our photos: they could be removed from a profile, but they would sometimes float around the site's content delivery networks for months or years, just waiting for a prospective employer to spot those embarrassing frosh week snapshots by accident. As Ars Technica discovered through experiments and official remarks, that problem should now be solved. In the wake of a months-long photo storage system migration and an updated deletion policy, Facebook now won't let removed photos sit for more than 30 days in the content network stream before they're scrubbed once and for all. The improved reaction time isn't as rapid as for a service like Instagram, where photos vanish almost immediately, but it might be a lifesaver for privacy advocates -- or just anyone who's ever worn a lampshade on their head in a moment of insobriety.

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Facebook starts really, truly deleting removed photos originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 16 Aug 2012 19:48:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Netflix introduces its own CDN, Open Connect Network, to give ISPs more control

Netflix introduces its own CDN, Open Connect Network, to give ISPs more throughput controlIt's not often that we touch on subjects surrounding content infrastructure -- lectures revolving around AWS, Level 3 and Limelight give most of us the creeps -- but that stuff is absolutely vital to keep petabytes of content flowing to our retinas. As the company's business shifts from by-mail to instant gratification, there are also decisions that need to be made about delivery. Despite signing a three-year deal with Limelight and Level 3 right around eighteen months ago, Netflix is clearly keeping an eye on the future with the introduction of the Open Connect content delivery network (CDN). Netflix is informing ISPs that they can choose to have Open Connect Appliances within their datacenters, or to peer with the Open Connect network at common Internet Exchanges; Netflix will provide either form of access at no cost to the ISP. We've heard about Netflix's efforts to team up with ISPs on bandwidth management before, it will be interesting to see if higher quality streaming or bundled packages become part of the deal. The official announcement is pretty light on details, but a piece at Streaming Media (linked below) highlights some of the more important strategic changes. No doubt, the outfit is expected to save small amounts per megabyte delivered, but when you're serving video on a massive scale, even pennies count.

Netflix introduces its own CDN, Open Connect Network, to give ISPs more control originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 04 Jun 2012 18:52:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Streaming Media, TechCrunch  |  sourceNetflix (1), (2)  | Email this | Comments