Netflix CDN Appliance Design: 100TB;10Gbps -- in 4U Chassis

Further to Netflix' announcement on its independent CDN offering (here), the streaming video provider published the technical details for those ISPs wishing to connect to the new network:

• Peering points - "Netflix has an open peering policy and actively peers with networks that have end-users viewing Netflix content. We do not peer with networks that only have a homemarket of end-users in countries in which we do not presently operate .. The ISP network must be located in or connected to the same peering locations as the Netflix network".
  
  Peering locations are available in several cities in the US as well as London (see "Are UK ISPs Ready for Netflix?" - here).
   
• Hardware Design - "When designing the Open Connect Appliance Hardware, we focused on these fundamental design goals: Very high storage density without sacrificing space and power efficiency. Our target was fitting 100 terabytes into a 4u chassis that is less than 2' deep .. High throughput: 10 Gbps throughput via an optical network connection .. Open Connect Appliances are servers based on commodity PC components (similar to the model used by all large scale content delivery networks) .. To achieve over 100 TB of storage, spinning hard drives provide the highest affordable density, in particular 36 3TB SATA units"
   
• Software - "For the operating system, we use FreeBSD version 9.0 .. We use the nginx web server for its proven scalability and performance. Netflix audio and video is served via HTTP .. We use the BIRD Internet routing daemon to enable the transfer of network topology from ISP networks to the Netflix control system that directs clients to sources of content"

See "Netflix Open Connect Content Delivery Network" - here.

European Carriers Ask [Again] to Charge Content Providers [Google]

 

Source: FT.com

The issue of peering agreements between the larger content providers (Google et al.) and the major European carriers was raised again (see previous activity below).

Maybe it was recent US conflict between Comcast and Level3 (here) that brought up this issue again in Europe - but anyway the Financial Times reports that "Leading European telecoms companies want to levy significant charges on Google and other online content providers through an overhaul of the regime governing how data travel over the internet .. Operators in Europe complain that they are contending with an explosion of data on their networks, much of which comes from US sites such as Google’s YouTube video service .. The problem for the operators is that while some content providers may be willing to pay for prioritised delivery of their material, Google – a vocal exponent of net neutrality – is unlikely to be among them"


See "Europe telecom groups target Google" - here.

• Elie Girard (picture), France Telecom’s head of strategy said “our current peering agreements are no longer viable. If the Internet is to continue to develop sustainably, we need to set charges linked to the amount of traffic that goes through our networks.”
   
• Telefonica’s chairman Cesar Alierta said: “All the peering agreements are going to change, which means [online content providers] will have to pay for traffic.”

Background: This is not for the first time:

•  "Telefonica CEO: "Google and Yahoo! use networks for free, which is good news for them and a tragedy for us" - here
• Deutsche Telekom CEO: OTT providers should pay for High Quality" - here 
• "French Government: Google and Foreign OTTs to Pay for Networks Usage" -here)

Resource: Learn about ISP Peering

 
Broadband Traffic Management always had a strong business case in managing the traffic coming or leaving the ISP's network. P2P control, video caching and other solutions' ROI are based on the cost of bandwidth. The recent Level3/Comcast conflict (here) shows another aspect of ISP/Carrier to ISP/Carrier relations.

DrPeering International is a great site to learn on the peering economy. The founder, William B. Norton, expert in internet peering, shares his vast knowledge with the public.

Anyone interested with the different arrangements between ISPs, Tier1/2/3 carriers, in US or elsewhere will find lots of useful information in the site.

Start with "Internet Service Providers and Peering v3.0" - here and continue with the other whitepapers (list - here)

Comcast - Peering 101 (OTT Video? Net Neutrality ??)

  

Comcast was very quick (following it dispute with Level3 - here) to make sure everyone understands what is a settlement-free peering agreement, explaining that it has nothing to do with OTT video or breaking Net Neutrality rules. In addition to sending a letter to Sharon Gillett, the FCC's Chief Wireline Competition Bureau (here) the company also prepared a nice video clip (see below).

Nevertheless, this is what Net Neutrality is all about. Should a network provider deliver 3rd party revenue-generating content or services to its subscribers for free? Will it qualify under the updated guidelines (here) as not being an "unreasonable discrimination".