Is This the End of the CDN As We Know It?

MelinaJanuary 28, 2025

1 6 minutes read

Last news Refers to many confusion Traditional content delivery networks (CDNS). But is it really?

When it comes to flow, there are often convincing problems with the sides of the content coin: construction and delivery. On the one hand, the goal that many of us called in the late 1990s when the broadcast entered itself- was- Democracy to create contentIt has become almost a second nature, and what with the phones in our pockets and cameras everywhere around us.

On the other hand, the democratic character of providing content did not really appear in the way most of us planned. Aside from one to one delivery (also known as FaceTime or WhatsApp), most content is delivered today through a form of its form Content Delivery Network (CDN).

Leaving http

What started as a way to accelerate the delivery of file assets (from video games and operating system updates to the theatrical “broadcasting” content on demand and pre -loaded theatrical trailers) gave way to a more difficult task in flowing direct content to the fans. But the task of flowing at a time of low imbalance was very large-both technically, given that the flow of low organisms had a heavy lifting of unity currents with their required percentage of one flow for each consumer, as well as from the point of view of cost, from heavy servers and the later broadcasting program. As a result, the CDN market has declined and retreated from the regular video delivery (HTTP).

Which – which HTTP approach It was a hybrid mixture of live broadcast (although delay often 30 or more seconds of the original servant) and the operation of small files (parts, pieces or fragments that are delivered to the consumer and operation in order, as long as they arrive in time). Although it reduced the cost in the short term, it stumbled on all broadcasting efforts when it comes to the “direct TV” that flows on the masses.

On the surface, though, the evidence for several years seemed unlike the Days of the Day of Resurrection brought by those who rejected this argument. Until 2011, with Ratification Through a group of animated photo experts, a number of red flags climbed a warning against “drawing ourselves at a late delivery angle” with the 30 -second model delays that the delivery -based delivery requires.

These warnings were raised in Streaming Media, in online forums, in Dreamingmedia shows, and in other industry events. As part of a full detection, I was one of these rejectionists for at least fifteen years, even while defending the MP4 Approach (FMP4) in a common white paper for the 2011 for Adobe and Microsoft. Unifying global video strategies.

However, the prevailing thinking of HTTP delivery prevailed, as many conversations outside the registry prevailed something like this: It is true that we draw ourselves in an angle when it comes to connecting content in the actual time wide Quickly stake in the market-on the account of broadcasters, cables and air (OTA)-then in the end we will see whether consumers want direct delivery. But we are betting on the fact that we do not think they really want it.

Enter ll-hls

It turned out, though, they really want it. Whether for sports (or sports book) or for bipping of distance education and live events, You need to return to low -definition connection methods He returned to the lead during the last half of the delivery of broadcasting.
Ironically, the first cracks in this thinking came, with low -constructive flow specifications in 2019 aimed at treating gorilla 800 pounds in the room: HTTP flow from Apple (HLS).

At that stage, Roger Pantos He was paying HLS Low Cumin (LL-HLS) Specifications by using what we call advanced http. the IEETF Specifications It was presented in Streaming Media West Show in late 2019, with suggestions about FMP4 and HTTP/2 Push, in time for the epidemic to connect excessive broadcasting.

CDN industry health

Since then, CDN continued to grow, with Mark de Jong, founder and president CDN Allianceand Noting last year “72 percent of the Internet content is delivered through CDNS” and the effect of CDN on the local electricity company.

It is not the only one who referred to this: Nate Lanxon from Bloomberg in 2021 made a similar point About a large -scale interruption from quickly: “You do not hear much about content delivery networks, or CDN, until you stop delivery. A global interruption of the main websites on June 8, which lasted for about an hour due to problems in San Francisco, based in San Francisco.”

When I asked de Young about the authenticity of the industry, in an interview just before the press time, the words did not empty. “This is not healthy, and a number of companies that expand their CDN services have been clarified or [shutting down] De Jong says completely, a user of the recent departments Edgio, cavityAnd Stackpath As examples. “I don’t think we have finished yet, as I expect at least one to decrease this year.”

But De Young argues that this is better for public health health. “It is clear that there are a lot of players, and a lot of work has been bought,” says De Jong. “CDN delivery was a bleeding for many companies, so they tried to compensate for this with other services, and other companies may have bought deals to ensure that they got deals.”

Like the electricity industry, however, it argues that bad news was hiccup, not death. “Each of these industries still has almost invisible companies – until something wrong occurs,” says De Jong. “But now we reach a point where pricing is in what may be a sustainable level. Think about energy companies: its ability is needed but the margins are low. If you are good in what you do, you will survive.”

With this recognition that the delivery of pure CDN has become a commodity, with the exception of perhaps many geographical areas and cases of use (war rooms, sports, etc.), the question and then arises about whether the CDN days are numbered. Mark de Jong Hee is “no” unambiguous.

“With some content creators, they are large enough to conclude the deals directly with Internet service providers,” he says. “But everyone, with the exception of Netflix, still depends on the third -party CDNS.

Finally about my question about kicking the box on the road, when it comes to HTTP delivery, De Jong that progress in HTTP may result CUIC initially for the fast UDP internet connections) that became somewhat synonymous for HTTP/3.

“Cumin is a protocol and infrastructure,” says De Jong. “Yes, you can rotate counterparts of the outer side clouds, but you have to adjust the basic infrastructure. There are restrictions with certain protocols, such as WebRTC. Just fired Edjio Webrtc on a large scale; None of the other CDNS followed its example. “

But if Media on Quic (MOQ) takes off, as De Jong, “will bring us back to HTTP in low differences and regular CDNS can run on a large scale. For many cases of use, MOQ may be a better way of using Webrtc.”

The CDN alliance will discuss this and more The first virtual round tableIt is scheduled to be held on January 28, 2025 at 5 pm Cet. The session is currently sold, which is a good indication that attention to CDNS is still strong.

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