Insider Scopes IPTV Storage

The booming market for IPTV is forcing service providers to rethink their storage strategies as they search for new ways to deliver programs.

The emergence of content delivery networks (CDNs), in particular, is changing the nature of IPTV, according to "Content Delivery Networks & IPTV Storage Strategies," the latest Byte and Switch Insider report, offered as part of a paid subscription research service affiliated with this publication.

"IP networks that enable IPTV are changing how storage is integrated into the IT networks that carry the signal," writes Max Smetanikov, Byte and Switch Insider research analyst, pointing to service providers' efforts to send video over their CDNs.

"All the usual suspects are vying for a place in the evolving IPTV ecosystem," writes Smetanikov. "[There are] large library players getting into the act of creating video-service-specific versions of enterprise storage hardware, cable industry stalwarts, and server manufacturers eager to capture a new market."

The report reveals that, although IPTV storage architectures vary widely, all employ some form of CDN to ensure the quality of their content delivery. (See Starbak, Storigen Team on CDNs, Level 3 Buys Savvis CDN, and MSOs Get Serious About IPTV.)"A new generation of CDN is emerging to meet IPTV's video-specific needs," writes Smetanikov. "[This is] born out of the need to accelerate delivery over once-inefficient Internet connections and slow last-mile connections."

Edge storage is also critical to IPTV, and the report examines the various options for building a CDN, from deploying off-the-shelf storage arrays to a custom system from a vendor specializing in video services. Storage vendors whose offerings are profiled in the report include Dell, NetApp, EMC, and Sun.

Other vendors profiled in the report include service provider Savvis and CDN services specialist Akamai, which spent $180 million to buy application delivery vendor Netli earlier this year. (See Akamai Nets Netli for $180M and Akamai Acquires Netli.)

Get more details and/or purchase the report here.