
Does not do as well for interactive content while Akamai does really more proven for downloads vs.However before realizing this commercial value proposition, Bittorrent had several hurdles to cross: As such Bittorrent could deliver content efficiently without deploying much capital, provided it could convince ordinary users to participate in its network. Its key competitive advantage over CDNs was its ability to accelerate content to the edges by utilizing the resources of the edge itself the already paid for computer and bandwidth of the end user.

For years its predominant use was for illegal file sharing even though it clearly had many more potential uses for content distribution.
WEBTORRENT CDN FULL

WEBTORRENT CDN FREE
It can do this primarily because its proprietary edge network servers are full application processing unit which can function at any of the OSI layers.Īkamai has finessed the dance of its collaborator’s interests, getting near free colocation from partners that it benefits (ISPs and their POPs) and more expensive presence in the core at NSPs which do not benefit from its service.īy offering a core CDN service, tools to bring content to this service more easily and expanding into interactive content (PHP and ASP web pages, videos, etc.) and dynamic applications, Akamai has ridden the innovation curve expertly while extracting additional revenue streams. In particular Akamai’s technology covers the network layer with special hooks into the session and application layer (HTTP, File txfer, Application APIs) which allows it to do well with interactive content as well as long form jitter sensitive content like streaming video. This difference and some externalities contribute to a diverging strategy and diverging results in the market.Ĭomparing the strategies of Akamai and Bit TorrentĪkamai’s since its inception has focused on delivering on the promise of creating a virtual and proprietary routing overlay over the public internet and using this content network to speed response times for its clients across a wide variety of content.

However the devil is in the details: and it’s in the details that the solutions of these companies differ. The solution of course for both companies is essentially to locate the content as close to the requestors as possible. This is a serious problem for (a) companies whose livelihood and tactical advantage depends on a promptly and timely serving this request (as quickly or faster than the competition) and (b) companies for which this content is jitter sensitive, like long running video. On the surface, Akamai and Bittorrent have similar solutions to similar sounding problems, to whit: How do you move content from content owner’s originating servers to requesting consumers without the delays associated with the general internet. Excerpt from a strategy analysis done at the Columbia Business School Summary
