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To delve deeper into the mechanics of today's CDN solutions, Network Computing sent out a fictitious RFP to several major CDN vendors. The RFP detailed the content-distribution requirements of a phantom dot-com venture called MusicEtopia, a deep-pocketed digital entertainment service site. MusicEtopia distributes music and video streams, both live and prerecorded, to an international subscriber base. The site also sells tickets, fan memorabilia and related items, and runs a chat community for like-minded fans.

Prompting the RFP is MusicEtopia's realization that distributing this kind of content reliably from a single location, while still ensuring near-universal quality, is extremely difficult. And even though a high-end ISP hosts the site, MusicEtopia is still interested in exploring content-delivery networks and services as a means of improving online service and easing site management. To get a handle on this, MusicEtopia put out an RFP requiring a detailed application and service design description, a back-end technology requirements section, full support options, and a complete pricing matrix, including software, support and deployment, as well as training.

Although we sent the RFP to Adero, Akamai, Cidera, Clearway Technologies, Digital Island, epicRealm, iBeam Broadcasting Corp., Mirror Image, Pushcache.com and FastForward Networks, only Akamai and Pushcache.com answered our request satisfactorily. Adero, Digital Island and epicRealm promised responses but failed to keep their word, dropping out even after we extended our deadlines in some cases.

Evaluating Proposals

Network managers seeking content-delivery services should evaluate proposals like these along three key lines: service capabilities, technology modification requirements and pricing.

While it might seem that service capabilities should be similar or even identical across the entire CDN segment, there is actually quite a bit of differentiation among the major players. The only common thread is that all CDNs--not just those that responded to our RFP--typically claim to increase end-user response time, especially where it pertains to thick media transfers like digital audio or streaming video.

Despite this commonality, network managers need to question not only how these services are accomplished but also whether the offerings are specifically targeted at their requirements. In our case, Akamai had more specialized product offerings than those proposed by Pushcache.com, which has a more one-size-fits-all solution--as long as you have a shoehorn.

In exchange for Akamai's participation, we agreed not to publish specifics about the company's fees; therefore, we can give only comparative information about the two companies' pricing structures. However, we can say categorically that Pushcache.com is far less expensive than Akamai -- to the tune of more than $1 million per year. Pushcache.com's pricing structure is also somewhat simpler than Akamai's: There's an initial fee that covers software licenses, design consulting and custom programming, plus a yearly charge for support, training and ongoing custom development. Akamai, meanwhile, bills its services ÿ la carte, with a monthly "commitment usage level" for each service. Installation and implementation fees are separate.

On the surface, Akamai clearly leads Pushcache.com, despite Akamai's high price. From a features-depth perspective, this is true, too. But given the amount of work going on today in open CDN technical standards, network managers considering Akamai would also need to consider the company's future directions. Thus far, while Akamai has announced some surface alliances with CDN consortium members, it has not announced any plans to move to an open-technology platform. Such a platform doesn't yet exist today, but the question is still relevant for tomorrow--especially considering that Akamai's solution means encapsulating all MusicEtopia's Web data into its proprietary ARL (Akamai Resource Locator) format. Although we give Akamai the bid for handling MusicEtopia, we would expect our fictional company's management to come up with a clear plan to extricate itself from this scheme, should it need to, before moving ahead.

Furthermore, Akamai's strength comes from its ability to reach a global audience. Maybe you're serving up a business application that applies only in a regional market--real estate, community banking or electronic purchasing for localized businesses, for example. In these situations, not only is Pushcache.com less expensive, it actually affords you more control, since you control the hardware and ISP SLAs, in addition to the Pushcache.com software for any required modifications.