Akamai宣布推出HD网络

在5月的流媒体东2009的主题演讲中, 保罗•萨冈, Akamai Technologies的总裁兼首席执行官, talked about the scalability needed to get to HD content on the internet to audiences that would rival television's numbers.

Yesterday, as part of a roll-out of the Akamai HD Network, Sagan pointed to his company's solution.

"Many have said that the internet's not capable of HD delivery,萨根说。. “我们不同意的状况, and we're rolling out a solution that's capable of scaling beyond any HD delivery that's been done to date."

“我们在看电视数字,萨根接着说, "as we've seen an event—the Presidential Inauguration - that scaled to 10 million streams, 但要保持和发展这种可扩展性, 我们需要使用HTTP传输."

Akamai的联合创始人兼首席科学家, 汤姆•雷顿, also added his view during a question and answer period on today's conference call.

“如今，家庭中有5000万台游戏设备, as well as 40 million iPhones capable of viewing HD content雷顿说 who is also Akamai's Chief Scientist. "Our last mile average delivery to end users in North America is an actual 5Mbps, 不只是规定的利率, 最后一英里的传输带宽正在迅速增长."

While Leighton did not elaborate on the HD content capabilities of the iPhone, and the company has yet to respond to our follow-up question on this new capability, 他还详细介绍了高清传输面临的其他问题. [编者注:iPhone的屏幕是480x360, 高清至少是720p宽, and Akamai is now saying they are delivering "HD quality" to the iPhone. Tim Siglin has more on what the company means by "HD quality" on his blog, Workflowed.com].

"The middle mile (interconnects between Tier 1 providers and others) creates another scaling roadblock, 从几个大型数据中心传输视频也是如此,雷顿说. "Both of these create bottlenecks to deliver a large number of HD streams."

“我们有50多个,000台服务器位于1,在全球750多个城市建立了5000个最后一英里网络, 在每个城市的多个地点,雷顿说. "The upgrade to the Akamai HD network requires no additional cost for server hardware, 因为唯一需要升级的是服务器软件. In fact, our ongoing delivery costs will drop as we deliver HD content."

Sagan pointed out that online video often frustrates end users with long start-up times, 画质差, 以及频繁的中断缓冲. An Akamai press release noted that Jupiter Research found that 60% of regular online video users are less likely to return to a site for video content if the viewing experience is poor.

“后果是巨大的，”萨根说. "Eliminating the roadblocks to HD content means that higher quality content, 作为直播流或点播内容提供, puts Internet video delivery in to the realm of a quality television experience. The average viewer will experience sub-second response times as our architecture allows us to more tightly control the frequency at which the streams switch [via adaptive bitrate streaming]."

“Akamai高清频道切换将几乎是即时的, 一两秒钟, at worst,雷顿补充道.

Available for Flash, Silverlight and the iPhone, with a demonstration available here, 萨根指出，新的Akamai高清网络将包括一个高清DVR, 新媒体分析, 以及针对多种播放环境的统一解决方案.

Akamai还推出了高清播放器, an open-source standard-based video player as part of the Open Video Player Framework. 但终端观众不需要升级到Akamai高清播放器.

"Our HD delivery makes use of all the existing players, using HTTP,雷顿说. "No additional requirement for additional players to be able to view HD content."

One major technology-related question to come out of session centered on HTTP delivery of HD for Flash. 当被问及这对与Adobe的关系意味着什么时, 现在Akamai正在通过HTTP做高清Flash, Leighton attempted to assure listeners that the Adobe relationship was intact.

“除了RTMP，我们现在还在HTTP上提供高清,雷顿说, with Sagan adding a series of announcement with Adobe will be forthcoming.

当被问及HD的HTTP交付时, an Adobe spokesperson responded with the following statement from the company:

"Adobe is always exploring ways to better provide the highest quality video experience to our customers,发言人说. "Adobe has a long-standing partnership with Akamai and as part of these efforts, Akamai and Adobe are exploring new ways to integrate Flash Media delivery technology within Akamai's network. Akamai's HD for the Adobe Flash Platform is a great example of the extensibility of the Adobe Flash Platform. 它进一步增强了内容交付方法."

A final question asked why content owners should leverage Akamai HD when telcos and cable networks are building out their own systems (some of the telco solutions will be showcased at SUPERCOMM in Chicago late October).

“内容用户希望接触到所有人,萨根说。, 这与他的流媒体东方主题演讲相呼应, "and not just those in a particular walled garden that requires multiple licensing agreements, 每个围墙花园一个. 这就是Akamai高清解决方案的关键之处."

我也问过Dave Stubenvoll, Wowza的CEO, about his take on the switch to HTTP delivery and adaptive bitrate streaming.

"A better, or cheaper, solution is always what’s needed," said Stubenvoll. "As is Wowza’s position, we seek to deliver in every way that the end user wants to consume video. HTTP是众多协议中的一种, but there are some funny things about HTTP as a 'standard' for delivery. Flash, Silverlight and iPhone can all accept HTTP, but each in a different manner."

"A Silverlight Smooth Stream cannot play in an iPhone,but it’s still HTTP," Stubenvoll continued. "Separate infrastructures are needed for each client, at least in part. Akamai can absorb the infrastructure costs but those without Akamai’s scale cannot. Adaptive bitrate streaming everywhere with fast response and security in a single infrastructure is what everyone wants, 所以我们达成了强烈的共识."

"You may say that Wowza 2 Advanced is an Akamai HD in a box," Stubenvoll concluded.

该新闻发布会的点播版也可供选择 here虽然我还不能在iPhone上玩这款游戏.