Internet Content Providers End Users The Internet: Simple on the Outside…

NAP UUNet Qwest AOL Network Providers Content Providers End Users Peering Points …But Problematic on the Inside

The Four Bottlenecks The First MileThe First Mile Peering PointsPeering Points Network BackbonesNetwork Backbones The Last MileThe Last Mile

400 million potential users = huge infrastructure problem Bottleneck #1: First Mile Content Provider now has worldwide audience; centralization doesn’t workContent Provider now has worldwide audience; centralization doesn’t work

% of Network Traffic ISPs (7,000) 6% Worldcom Bottleneck #2: Peering Points No single network controls a large % of access trafficNo single network controls a large % of access traffic No economic incentive to peer and difficult to implementNo economic incentive to peer and difficult to implement

Bottleneck Implications Slow downloadsSlow downloads -Content must traverse multiple backbones and long distances Unreliable performanceUnreliable performance -Content may be blocked by congestion or backbone peering problems Not scalableNot scalable -Usage limited by bandwidth available at master site Inferior streaming qualityInferior streaming quality -Packet loss, congestion, and narrow pipes degrade stream quality Broadband doesn’t helpBroadband doesn’t help -As broadband becomes ubiquitous, the disaster of centralized solutions becomes more obvious— not better

How the Internet Works How the Internet Works The Akamai Solution The Akamai Solution Company Origins & Overview Company Origins & Overview Technology Overview Technology Overview Technological Challenges Technological ChallengesOutline

The Akamai Solution Akamai Servers at Network Edge Content Providers End Users NAP

Advantages FastFast -Content is served from locations near to end users ReliableReliable -No single point of failure -Automatic failover ScalableScalable -Master site no longer requires massive available bandwidth

Web Site Performance Typical Improvement with Akamai Noon May 15 Noon May 16 Noon May 17 Noon May 18 Noon May 19Noon May 20Noon May 21 Noon May 22 Noon May 23 Noon May 24 Noon May 25Noon May 26Noon May 27 Web object delivered by Akamai Web object delivered without Akamai Keynote  Results

Average speedup of 2-46 timesAverage speedup of 2-46 times Median of 7 times, 86% reduction in download timesMedian of 7 times, 86% reduction in download times Speedup for sample of 94 websites

3 Customer Web Server DNS 1 User enters enters Browser requests IP address for requests IP address for Browser requests embedded objectsBrowser requests embedded objects Customer Web server returns HTMLCustomer Web server returns HTML Browser requests HTMLBrowser requests HTML DNS returns IP addressDNS returns IP address Browser obtains IP address for domain of embedded objects for pageBrowser obtains IP address for domain of embedded objects for page Customer’s Web server returns embedded objectsCustomer’s Web server returns embedded objects Downloading — The Old Way

Finding the IP Address for — The Old Way Browser’s Cache 1 OS 2 Local Name Server 3.net Root (InterNIC) 4 xyz.com DNS Servers TTL: 1 Day TTL: 30 Minutes

Downloading with Akamai’s EdgeSuite User enters enters Browser requests IP address for requests IP address for DNS Optimal Akamai server returns Akamaized HTMLOptimal Akamai server returns Akamaized HTML5 Browser requests HTMLBrowser requests HTML 3 Akamai server assembles page, contacting customer Web server if necessaryAkamai server assembles page, contacting customer Web server if necessary 4 Customer Web server DNS returns IP address of optimal Akamai serverDNS returns IP address of optimal Akamai server 2 Browser obtains IP address of optimal Akamai servers for embedded objectsBrowser obtains IP address of optimal Akamai servers for embedded objects 6 Browser obtains objects from optimal Akamai serversBrowser obtains objects from optimal Akamai servers 7

Key Components DNS Resolution: Finding the IP address for Resolution: Finding the IP address for Page AssemblyPage Assembly Connecting from the edge to the sourceConnecting from the edge to the source

End User Finding the IP Address: The Akamai Way Akamai High-Level DNS Servers 10 g.akamai.net 1 Browser’s Cache OS 2 Local Name Server 3 xyz.com’s nameserver a212.g.akamai.net Akamai Low-Level DNS Servers 12 a212.g.akamai.net xyz.com.net Root (InterNIC) akamai.net8

Root HLDNS LLDNS 1 day 30 min. 30 sec. T ime T o L ive TTL of DNS responses gets shorter further down the hierarchy DNS Maps & Time-To-Live Maps created using info on:Maps created using info on: -Internet congestion -System loads -User demands -Server status Maps are constantly recalculated:Maps are constantly recalculated: -Every few minutes for HLDNS -Every few seconds for LLDNS

Page Assembly Site owners create container pages that can be populated with varying content Container Page [TTL=5d] [XYZ news, content, promotions, etc. TTL=5d] [Breaking headlines TTL=2h] [TTL=15m] [TTL=8h]

Page Assembly EdgeSuite enables Web sites to build and deliver customized content at the edge If gender = male and geography = New York then show article on NY Giants Sportswear [XYZ news, content, promotions, etc. TTL=5d] [Breaking headlines TTL=2h] [TTL=15m] [TTL=8h]

Syntax Example Akamai Weather Forecast Similar to SSI so it’s easily understood— but also breaks performance bottlenecks when distributed across 6,000 serversSimilar to SSI so it’s easily understood— but also breaks performance bottlenecks when distributed across 6,000 servers Used as an API to third-party applications on Akamai’s networkUsed as an API to third-party applications on Akamai’s network