Abstract
The State of the Art
- Detailed market review
- Technology roadmap
- P2P Next
- Localised vs. Non-localised P2P
- System requirements and analysis
- P4P
The report opens by summarising 17 different P2P content delivery network platforms and services that use P2P to deliver streaming video content. Next, the content delivery market is reviewed by looking at 7 different market segments, the size and growth potential of the internet television segment and the incremental traffic requirements demanded by this market segment.
Using a detailed network example, the report then clearly explains why P2P technology will have a sustainable position in the content delivery network marketplace, and why this is not because some P2P CDNs are offering seemingly massive cost savings to content service providers.
The report then analyses the effect that different P2P CDN architectures (i.e. Localised and non-localised) have on ISPs and explains what ISPs are doing to deal with undesirable, non-localised P2P traffic.
Next, the report lays out the top-level requirements that a successful commercial P2P CDN will need to meet, including considerations such as quality and performance, central management functions, content security and traffic localisation.
The report then explains the basics of how modern, packet-based P2P CDNs work by addressing issues such as peer-selection algorithms, the role of caching servers and the viability of pure P2P systems. Some future technological developments are also discussed.
The report then reviews P4P and P2P Next, which are the two market initiatives that have the greatest potential to transform how P2P CDN technology evolves in the future.
Key Benefits
- Understand why P2P technology has arrived at a developmental crossroads and why the category will now follow two divergent paths.
- See why some P2P CDNs, which are offering content service providers big cost savings, are merely exploiting a short-term arbitrage opportunity.
- Clearly see why traffic localisation is essential for a successful P2P CDNs.
- Understand why a localised P2P CDN can reduce core network traffic volumes by 50%, when compared with a traditional sever-based architecture.
- Quantify the effect that localised P2P CDNs could have on the equipment forecasts of networking equipment vendors, and on the capex forecasts of ISPs
- Understand the how the two leading P2P CDN projects compare with each other.
Who Should Read this Report?
- Product management and product marketing.
- Product strategy and marketing strategy.
- Product, market and network planning.
- Executive leadership.
- Market insight and competitor intelligence.
- Business development and corporate development.
Contributors
The following companies and institutions have provided input to this report in the form of in-depth telephone interviews:
- Pando Networks
- Lancaster University
- Microsoft Research
- VTT - P2P Next
- Ipoque
- Technical University Delft (Netherlands) - P2P Next
- Octoshape
- Grid Networks
- Conviva
Table of Contents
Contents
- Synopsis
- Subject Area
- Report Content
- Key Benefits
- Who Should Read this Report?
- Contributors
Executive Summary
- Introduction
- Related Reports
- P2P Market Segmentation
- -Consumer-driven market
- -Commercially-driven market
- Market Overview
- Market Size: Internet Television
- -Substitutional or Incremental?
- -Cautionary Note: Rate of Growth
- Traffic Requirements
- Content Distribution: Why P2P?
- Efficient Use of Network Resources
- Natural Architectural Development
- Impact on ISPs
- -Protocol Weakness 1: Exclusive Focus on Link Performance
- -Protocol Weakness 2: Extreme Use of Upstream Connections
- -ISP Mitigation Strategies
- Commercial P2P CDNs
- Business Requirements
- -Quality and Performance (key stakeholders: all value chain)
- -Central Management Function (key stakeholders: service providers)
- -Content security (key stakeholders: content owner)
- -Traffic Localisation (key stakeholders: network operators)
- Technology: Outline Description
- -Stream Packetisation
- -Peer Selection Algorithims
- -Importance of Upstream Speed
- -Use of Caching Servers: Hybrid P2P
- -Pure P2P Systems
- Protocol Evolution
- -Analogy: Protocol Development in Capacity-constrained Networks
- -P2P
- Key Projects: P4P & P2P Next
- P4P
- Outline
- Operation
- Centralized Tracker
- Specification Status
- Results
- P2P Next
- Primary Application Area: Internet Television
- Open Source
- Localisation Strategy
- Making an Open Model Work
