The demand for video streaming has increased significantly in the last few years. Users are now watching more and more high-quality, on-demand video content than ever before. In order to keep up with increasing user demand, video CDN have become much smarter about how they serve different types of streaming services. Instead of simply serving a single origin IP address to visitors from each CDN edge location, content providers use next-gen CDNs to load balance their servers so that content can be served from the closest edge location possible. These next-gen CDNs provide extremely granular configuration options, which let them customize caching rules, server selection logic, and traffic shaping settings based on the origin, type of request (video or non-video), and other contextual information. With these new configurable products at their disposal, it’s easy to see why forward-thinking content producers will continue to use next-gen CDNs instead of legacy solutions.

How Does a CDN Work?

CDNs are software platforms that aggregate content from many different servers worldwide, then serve them to users. In order to work, a CDN relies on a number of Internet-connected server farms located in data centers around the world. The CDN collects all the content from these various servers and then serves that content to users who request it. In the case of a streaming service, the CDN makes a request to the streaming service’s servers for a particular stream. The streaming service’s servers then return the stream’s audio/video content to the CDN. Once the CDN receives the stream’s content, it puts that content in the round-trip caching format. To the user’s browser, the CDN appears as if the stream is coming directly from the CDN’s edge location. To the user, it’s as if the stream is being served from the nearest location to that user; for example, the user’s local CDN edge location or the nearest edge location.

What is Next-Gen CDN?

Next-gen CDNs start with the same basic premise as legacy CDNs; but they have taken it to the next level by adding machine learning to the mix. Instead of simply having a rules-based approach to serving streams from locations; next-gen CDNs can now use a variety of contextual data points to make smarter decisions. The first contextual data point that next-gen CDNs can use is the origin. With origin data, a next-gen CDN can decide to serve content from multiple edge locations instead of just one; depending on the type of request. For example, if a user requests a video stream, but their browser is trying to download a file; then the next-gen CDN could choose to serve the video stream from the edge location closest to that user.

Next-Gen CDNs for Streaming Services

In addition to being able to make smarter decisions based on the type of request; next-gen CDNs can also use origin data to load balance streams across multiple edge locations. For example, when a user requests a stream that originates from a server in New York; the next-gen CDN might first attempt to deliver that stream from the edge location closest to that user. If that edge location is in Los Angeles, then the next-gen CDN could serve that stream from the New York edge location or the edge location closest to Los Angeles. When a stream originates from a different origin; the next-gen CDN can use traffic shaping rules to choose which edge location to serve the stream. In this scenario, the next-gen CDN could choose an edge location close to the stream’s origin and then apply traffic shaping rules to shape the stream’s traffic to that edge location.

Evolving CDN Strategies for Streaming Services

As the demand for streaming services increases; next-gen CDNs will continue to evolve to adapt to the changing needs of their customers. This is already happening as companies begin to use traffic shaping rules to prioritize certain types of requests over others. For example, if a stream originates from a device that has a high-bandwidth connection, then the next-gen CDN could use origin data to serve that stream from the edge location closest to that device. Alternatively, if a stream originates from a low-bandwidth device; then the next-gen CDN could serve that stream from an edge location that is closer to the origin. As the demand for streaming services continues to grow, the demand for high-quality streaming content will also increase. Next-gen CDNs will begin to prioritize the type of request that is coming from a particular user, device, or application. For example, a sports stream might be given a higher priority than a music stream if the sports stream is coming from a device that has been previously identified as a sports fan.

The Future of streaming CDNs: Why It Matters to You

As you can see, the ways that next-gen CDNs can use origin data and traffic shaping rules to serve streaming content are very customizable; meaning that providers can meet each customer’s needs with the best possible edge location. The next-gen CDNs helping to define and advance the streaming CDN market are focused on delivering high-quality streaming content at scale while providing exceptional customer experiences. With the industry-wide adoption of DNX, the future of streaming CDNs looks very bright; and millions of users will have even better experiences thanks to these advancements.

Conclusion

Inside the ever-growing streaming video market, companies face significant challenges when trying to deliver high-quality video experiences. The volume of traffic, latency, and connection speeds are all major challenges; that providers must overcome to ensure the best possible streaming experience. With the increasing demand for streaming services, next-gen CDNs are becoming more important. Next-gen CDNs are evolving legacy CDNs by using machine learning to analyze contextual data points to make smarter decisions about where to serve content from and what type of requests to prioritize. Next-gen CDNs will continue to evolve, and with these changes; they will help solve these challenges for streaming services moving forward.