- Content Peering
- IETF CDI Group
Content Peering
A critical technology for the widespread adoption of content delivery services, content peering enables the content delivery networks of multiple service providers to work in cooperation.
Content Delivery Networks (CDN's) accelerate Web sites by redirecting Web page clicks to devices located near the viewer. These devices may be located on the networks of many service providers.
However, no individual CDN can span all the geographies and networks across the Internet. Likewise, a given CDN cannot take advantage of all the value added functionality — speed, security, quality-of-service, on-premise delivery, and other features — that individual service providers may implement.
Given the collection of independent networks that form the Internet, content peering allows CDN's to interoperate, ensuring fast performance by delivering Web content from devices located close to the viewing audience.
With content peering, a Web site owner can work with their preferred hosting service provider, but gain the reach of the combined peering networks.
How It Works
Content Peering requires the CDN's to share information in three areas:
- Content Distribution: the process of moving files to the remote delivery devices
- Content Request-Routing: the process whereby a viewer's page request is redirected to the appropriate delivery device
- Accounting: the process for collecting usage and billing data
Techniques for sharing this information are being developed by the CDI Working Group of the IETF..