Limelight Networks has introduced a CDN product the company calls a game changer; its XD Platform uses an "adaptive intelligence" software layer enabling edge servers to maximize the performance of standard Internet protocols on a per-connection, per-delivery basis--and that protocol maximization is performed for each delivery.
Limelight's XD let's an accessing network make the decision for last-mile delivery based on the network's own knowledge of how it's performing, using feedback on capacity, latency and overall network health. "Adaptive Intelligence tells us what's going on in the last-mile networks in real time," Limelight co-founder and CSO Mike Gordon told FierceOnlineVideo. "We're going to be able to use the last mile connection more efficiently."
The patent-pending adaptive intelligence, Gordon said, will improve the customer experience. End users will be able to watch video at a higher bit rate, they'll be able to open pages faster, or download games and perform software upgrades more quickly. Gordon said XD will deliver the biggest rewards on congested networks, or ones with customers scattered all over the world, as well as to users who are requesting bigger objects.
The company has about 1,300 customers, Gordon said, with several dozen more in the pipeline. Not all customers will use XD, Gordon said, which will cost 20-30 percent more than Limelight's standard CDN product. Some customers may chose to use XD for only part of their businesses, perhaps segments that are more quality or time critical in nature. If so, the service can be tiered at a premium level. "It's a very flexible technology that can be varied customer to customer," said Gordon.
Overstock.com--a new Limelight Networks customer--already has seen positive results from the switch to the XD Platform, Gordon said, adding that Limelight's support of a small-object ecommerce enterprise is a new challenge for the company that historically hasn't been very deep in the segment.
For more:
- see the release
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