Dealing with Internet Congestion: Two Solutions

1. Dealing with Internet Congestion:Two Solutions “Energizing the Internet” Michael Weaver Bucknell University

2. About Bucknell • Private Liberal Arts University • Primarily undergraduate • 3,250 undergraduates • 200 graduate students • Primarily residential • Located in central Pennsylvania

3. In the wake of the Spring, 2000 Napster explosion…

6. The cost of our Internet connection keeps going down. Soon it will be cheap enough that we won’t need to worry about bandwidth consumption! Myth 1

7. Something to Ponder! If audio from Napster causes this much trouble, what will happen as video becomes more widely available?

8. What’s the Potential?Do the Math! • 2800 computers in Resnet • 100Mbits/sec connection for each computer • 2800 * 100Mbits/sec = 280,000 Mbits/sec • Our capacity to consume content: roughly 31,000 times our current Internet connection to Resnet!

9. More realistically • There probably aren’t too many 100Mbits/sec streams out there. • But there are lots of 1Mbit/sec streams • 2800 * 1 Mbit/sec = 310 times our current Internet connection.

10. Something to ponder! Is the price of our Internet connection going to come down enough that we can increase it’s capacity 310 times?

11. Myth 2 We need to protect our technology resources for the “Academic Mission” of the University.

12. Something to ponder! How much of your current network activity is directly related to the “Academic Mission” of your University? Email? Web browsing? Other communications (IM, for example)?

13. Something to ponder! Was your decision to implement Resnet an “Academic” decision? Was your Admissions Office involved in that decision?

14. Something to ponder! How many of your students have a high speed connection (like DSL) at home? Do you expect that number to grow? Is this “home” use strictly academic, or does it include recreation and entertainment? Does it (or will it) include audio and video?

15. Something to ponder! These are lifestyle changes! They are here to stay! Our students will expect the same capabilities in their dorm rooms that they have at home!

16. Something to ponder! To what extent do these lifestyle changes enable technology for academic use? Was email a useful academic tool before it was part of our lifestyle? Web browsing? Etc…

17. “Academic Mission” Restated We must recognize the lifestyle demands on our technology resources, finding ways to accommodate them, without jeopardizing the academic needs for those same resources.

19. Launchcast Internet radio station with a twist • Users can “personalize” their radio station

20. My thinking • If we could put Launchcast content in the Bucknell network: • We would provide students with a legal alternative to Napster • We could reduce the traffic on our Internet connection. • So I called Jeff.

21. Of course, my thinking wasn’t completely original. Launchcast was already using a service called iBEAM to put it’s content “close to the edge.”

22. That Sets the Stage We can reduce traffic on our Internet connection by moving content into our campus network. We’ll see three things that we’ve tried at Bucknell.

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24. iBEAM • Hosts content for various “customers” • (Launch.com, MSNBC, The Archeology Channel, eHow.com, The Golf Channel) • Streaming server (Real Networks and Windows Media Server) • On-demand and live content • Tiered Architecture • Most popular content “at the edge” • Other content distributed on iBEAM servers throughout the Internet • All content available at iBEAM’s central server.

25. iBEAM • iBEAM installed a “MaxCaster” server in the Bucknell network last summer. • We were the second school in the country to have one installed.

26. iBeam Server Request for content that is NOT on “Bucknell’s” iBEAM server iBeam Server InternetConnection Nearest iBeam Server Bucknell Network iBeam Server Local iBeam Server iBEAM’s Architecture Request for content that is on “Bucknell’s” iBEAM server

27. iBEAMServer@bucknell Bucknell Computer Center iBEAM Architecture:Live content iBEAM

28. What does iBEAM cost? $0 (A little rack space)

29. Who pays for iBEAM? It’s customers! (Launch.com, MSNBC, The Archeology Channel, eHow.com, The Golf Channel)

30. iBEAM Benefits • Better performance • Since some content comes from a local server instead of a server somewhere out on the Internet. • Reduced traffic on our Internet connection.

31. Launchcast and iBEAM • As we started to work with Launchcast and iBEAM, we realized: • Launchcast content is available in several bandwidths • Most of iBEAM’s users are dial-up users • Therefore, the content on any iBEAM MaxCaster server (including ours) is mostly low-bandwidth • However, our users are broadband users • So, very little Launchcast content is served from Bucknell’s iBEAM server. • So, we haven’t promoted Launchcast to our students as an alternative to Napster

32. iBEAM However, any content that is delivered from Bucknell’s iBEAM server is still a reduction in traffic on our Internet connection.

33. The last I heard • iBEAM architecture change in the works • Content on Bucknell’s iBEAM server will be based on Bucknell usage, not global usage (heterogeneous edge). • Both iBEAM and Launch are struggling financially.

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36. BACKGROUND="http://a772.g.akamai.net/7/772/51/5593ee8a8ef77e/www.apple.com/t/2001/us/en/i/1bg.gif"><img SRC="http://a772.g.akamai.net/7/772/51/5593ee8a8ef77e/www.apple.com/t/2001/us/en/i/1bg.gif" width="1" height="53" alt="" align="LEFT" border="0"></TD> </TR></TABLE><!-- END NAV BAR TABLE --><TABLE WIDTH="680" BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="0" CELLSPACING="0"> <TR VALIGN=TOP> <TD><A HREF="/powerbook/"><IMG SRC="http://a772.g.akamai.net/7/772/51/5f25d2cfae812f/www.apple.com/home/images/01/powerbook01-01092001.gif" ALT="1&quot; thick. 5.3 pounds. Slot-loading dvd. 5 hour battery. Airport. 15.2&quot; mega-wide screen. Titanium." WIDTH="280" HEIGHT="328" BORDER="0"></A></TD> <TD><A HREF="/powerbook/"> <IMG SRC = "http://a1904.g.akamai.net/7/1904/51/6b3daf44c163ca/www.apple.com/home/images/02/powerbook02-02212001.jpg" ALT="Power Book G4." WIDTH="400" HEIGHT="328" BORDER="0"></A></TD> </TR></TABLE>

37. Where is a1904.g.akamai.net? C:\>tracert –d a1904.g.akamai.net Tracing route to a1904.g.akamai.net [134.82.11.7] over a maximum of 30 hops: 1 <10 ms <10 ms <10 ms 134.82.8.2542 <10 ms <10 ms <10 ms 134.82.11.7 Trace complete.

38. Akamai • Hosts web content for various customers • Apple, Britannica.com, CNN Interactive, JCPenney, MSNBC, Yahoo • Web server • Tiered architecture • All content comes from Akamai server in Bucknell network • Content is cached on that server for some period of time • If particular content is not on the server, it is sent down to the server from the closest location

39. Akamai Akamai installed a “FreeFlow” server in the Bucknell network last summer.

40. Akamai Architecture Request for content that is already cached on Bucknell’s Akamai server. AkamaiServer Request for content that is not current on Bucknell’s Akamai server. Internetconnection BucknellNetwork Bucknell’sAkamaiServer

41. Akamai Benefits • Better performance when web browsing • Since some percentage of hits come directly from the Akamai server in our network. • Reduced traffic on our Internet connection.

42. $0 (A little rack space) What does Akamai cost?

43. Who pays for Akamai? It’s customers! (Apple, Britannica.com, CNN Interactive, JCPenney, MSNBC, Yahoo)

44. Akamai Statistics Summary report from 2/26/2001 12:00AM -> 3/6/2001 12:00AM (GMT) of in/out traffic for Akamai region 493 Summary report from 2/26/2001 12:00AM -> 3/6/2001 12:00AM (GMT) of in/out traffic for Akamai region 493

45. Translated

46. Akamai Negatives None that I can find!

47. Coming soon to Akamai Streaming Content (6 – 9 months) Launchcast

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50. Intertainer • What is it? • “Entertainment on Demand” • Movies, concerts, music videos, tv shows • Some content is free (music videos, for example) • Some content is pay-per-view (movies, for example)