Technical Practices for a Multi-CDN Distribution Strategy
Ideally, data in a multicontent delivery network (CDN) setup are load balanced dynamically using realtime traffic information gathered throughout the delivery chain. This paper provides the rationale and architectural guidelines for an online multi-CDN distribution backend, abstracting the content publication and playout logic from the actual delivery networks used. It describes the essential technical practices for a multi-CDN setup covering the role of the origin servers and essential broadcast features such as geofencing, HTTPs secured traffic, cache purging, etc. Essential metrics such as video player feedback are detailed and fall back scenarios are explained. All the elements above are deployed and tested during a pilot involving five European broadcasters sharing a multi-CDN overlay to load balance their traffic over three different CDNs using dynamic switching algorithms. This paper provides the rationale and architectural guidelines for an online multi-CDN distribution backend, abstracting the content publication and playout logic from the actual delivery networks used.
- Print ISSN
- 1545-0279
- Electronic ISSN
- 2160-2492
- Published
- 2018-07
- Content type
- Original Research
- Keywords
- Analytics, big data, content delivery network (CDN), load balancing, metrics, multi-CDN, quality of experience (QoE), quality of service (QoS), streaming media, workflow
- DOI
- 10.5594/JMI.2018.2831078