Recommended CDN

[mdman1970]

Hi there,
Firstly apologies - perhaps this should topic should in another area - but think the advanced gets read the most.

I am looking for a cost effective reliable CDN - with a good POP geographic coverage.

I need realtime RTMP delivery - and would prefer no commits initially

Does such a CDN exist or shoud I try to seach for the Holy Grale instead.

Many Thanks
Richard

[GreenField]

Richard,
The following items may help, read all the comments also:

http://blog.streamingmedia.com/the_busin...icing.html

And also here: http://www.streamingmedia.com/research/cdnSurvey.asp

You will have to fork over $295 bucks to get your hands on this report but it comes down to how serious you are at saving money in the long run. In full disclosure - I am not a sales rep for a CDN - but I buy a lot of bandwidth from them.

This may also shed some lights: http://www.CDNlist.com

Finally, finding what you need/want all comes down to a few things:
1.) How much transfer and storage do you need?
2.) Where (geographically) do you need the POP's, domestic, Western EU, Pac Rim, or all?
3.) What services do you need - Video? Flash/windows media, other? Whole Site delivery? Pure HTTP downloads? Image and HTML caching? Ecommerce, etc.?
4.) Do you need asset management? How about a player system? Need API"s or a SDK to interface with the content?

All of these items will direct you to a CDN based on YOUR needs rather than what the marketing mumbo-jumbo will depict. Keep a few things in mind - you may not have 'enough' data transfer to qualify for certain CDN's to even take your call. Yeah, it sucks, been there, but the reality is the big ones - Tier 1 CDN's - have support thresholds and revenue goals, etc. Don;t just drop the issue and feel like you are forced to use a Tier 2, because there are options to get onto a Tier 1 as well. These CDN's also have channel partners, they call them ecosystems, nice sounding isn't it. (Actually Adobe gets the credit for thinking that one up). These 'ecosystem' partners can get you a good rate on the Tier 1 CDN, a lower commit and even provide valuable service on top of the bandwidth and storage that you so desire.

-GreenField

(08-12-2009 06:14 AM)mdman1970 Wrote:  Hi there,
Firstly apologies - perhaps this should topic should in another area - but think the advanced gets read the most.

I am looking for a cost effective reliable CDN - with a good POP geographic coverage.

I need realtime RTMP delivery - and would prefer no commits initially

Does such a CDN exist or shoud I try to seach for the Holy Grale instead.

Many Thanks
Richard

[TeleNetMedia]

First of all, I am NOT in anyway employed by them!

With that said, I am really happy with HighWinds. Great prices, global scaling and wonderful tech support.

[cata12]

Before choosing a CDN think about if you really need it. Using a CDN is very recommended (for improving speed) when delivering informations from websites with heavy traffic from different parts of the world so a very good geographical server distribution is needed. Read about CDN's HERE.

Catalin
Professional Streaming Consultant