Updated List Of CDN Providers For Video Delivery

Back in September, I posted a list of CDN providers for video delivery and since that post, more providers continue to enter the market. Today, I am tracking over 30 providers for online video delivery (which can now easily be found at www.cdnlist.com) be it via streaming, progressive download, P2P or hybrid solutions.

The last time I made a list like this I got all sorts of angry comments from many of the companies on the list about me unfairly comparing their company to another company. No where in this post am I comparing any company, product, revenue, size, geographic reach, formats supported etc.... This is simply a list of the providers I am tracking in the market who offer video delivery services.

Every provider has different strengths and weakness all based on many different needs of a specific customer. And before I get a million questions about why Amazon is not on this list, Amazon's S3 offering does not count as a CDN in my eyes. Also, this list is based on my interpretation of what a "CDN" is. Many people have different takes and opinions on what makes a CDN and these days, the term "CDN" is very broad.

Maybe you think differently than I do on what classifies a CDN and would have a different list than I do. But based on what I think a CDN for video is, in alphabetical order these are the delivery networks I track in the industry

• Advection.NET (stream, download)
• Akamai (stream, download)
• AT&T (stream, download)
• BitGravity (stream, download)
• BitTorrent (P2P)
• CacheFly (download)
• CacheLogic Changed name to Velocix (stream, download, P2P)
• ChinaCache (stream, download)
• CDNetworks (stream, download)
• Digital Fountain (stream - launching Q1 2008)
• EdgeCast (stream, download)
• Grid Networks (P2P)
• Highwinds (stream, download)
• Ignite Technologies (P2P, download)
• Internap (stream, download)
• Itiva (P2P)
• Level 3 (stream, download)
  
• Limelight Networks (stream, download)
• Mirror Image (stream, download)
• Move Networks (streaming via HTTP)
• NaviSite (stream, download)
• Octoshape (P2P)
• Pando Networks (P2P)
• Panther Express (download)
• PEER1 (download)
• Rawflow (P2P)
• Rinera (don't know)
• Solid State Networks (P2P)
• Swarmcast (streaming via HTTP)
• VeriSign (stream, P2P)
• Voxel.net (stream, download)

Comments

[Rick]

You forgot http://www.streamzilla.co.uk (stream and dl)

[Kareem Kouddous]

FYI - Panther Express is streaming via HTTP

[Dan Rayburn]

I would not consider StreamZilla to be a CDN the way I classify CDNs in the market.

Panther Express does not "stream" via HTTP. If it is HTTP, it is not streaming. The only reason I listed Move Network and Swarmcast as "stream via HTTP" is because they both have their own proprietary technology and call it that. Panther does not have anything proprietary that I am aware of.

Personally, I don't even like using streaming and HTTP in the same sentence as the true definition of streaming is not done via HTTP.

[Steve Rubel]

Dan, thanks for this list. It is very helpful and nice to see it get updated every few months.

[Marcin Pilarski]

Telekomunikacja Polska (Polish Telecom) is now offering an high-performance content distribution network service to content portals seeking to reach Polish customers.
more info: www.cdn.rd.tp.pl

[Larry Kless]

Hi Dan,

Can you suggest a small or medium sized service provider that offers Flash streaming (both Flash 7 and 9 player) similar to the few you listed in your "Online Video Delivery and Storage Pricing Guide" from the 2007 Industry Sourcebook?

I have a client that is shopping around and looking for a month to month commit with a fair and scalable plan.

Thanks, Larry

[Dan Rayburn]

Hi Larry, here is a list of some regional service providers:
http://blog.streamingmedia.com/the_business_of_online_vi/2007/04/comprehensive_l.html

[Phil Munchauer]

Hi Dan, have you seen the DVD Quality streaming VOD site at http:www.reeltime.com ?

It is the latest streaming Hybrid p2p technology, utilizing Gridnetworks p2p along with patent pending IRDS, Intellegent Rapid Delivery System form Reeltime.com founders.

They just inked a big deal with Sony Pictures, validating and endorsing the Secure delivery method and unique DRM. Let me know your thoughts.

[Dan Rayburn]

I have not been able to see the BitGravity solution on my own machine as they don't support Mac OS X. I have seen demos of the solution in action but technology is not really what impresses me. Customer adoption, usage, customer wins etc... are really what I pay attention to.

Nearly all of the companies in the P2P/Grid space say the same things on their website: "best quality experience"... as defined by what and compared to what? "costs a fraction of other CDNs"... again, very vague. In my eyes, all of the P2P providers are too focused on how big the video looks and the size of the window. If that is all content owners cared about, then every content owner would be using P2P today, but they aren't.

There are a lot of limitations with P2P, the most relevant one being that nearly every P2P solution requires it's own software or player just to be able to view content, it's hard to tell what P2P solutions support streaming, support live, support Flash, etc...

Notice that the website of nearly every P2P based company spends all of it's effort to showcase the technology without talking about the business side of their solution? Nearly none of them talk about who their customers are, what type of traction they have, how many players are installed (with exceptions), what it costs with real numbers, how secure it is, and what it really supports.

I've done a lot of posts about P2P and the lack of info the providers are putting out in the market. They all have the same marketing pitch: it's cheaper, higher quality and scales better. Great. Then why is no one using it? And when you ask many of the P2P providers very basic questions, many of them will say things like "I can't tell you how that works" or "we don't give out that info because we don't want competitors to know" etc.... they want customers to adopt P2P but don't want to educate the market, as a whole, on how it all works.

[francois]

Dan, Could you elaborate more on your thoughts concerning Digital Rapids and their decision to use Amazon? Do you think this will have any effect on FMS?

It has certainly had an impact on our thoughts on choosing a bandwidth supplier and streaming media platform. Previously we were stuck on using FMS/traditional CDN due to performance and quality of service concerns.

However, it seems to me that with the introduction of Toughstream/DF Splash these concerns are much less of an issue. Any thoughts or feedback would be greatly appreciated.

[Dan Rayburn]

Hi Francois, I like the approach by Digital Fountain to use the Amazon infrastructure to deploy their video servers. It is a good fit for their specific needs especially since they are primarily going after U.S. based business and traffic which is Amazon's core geographic reach.

As for how this affects FMS, I don't see any impact. Las time I spoke to Digital Fountain, they were not deploying FMS servers and were only going to be supporting MPEG4 content. I have not heard an update in awhile, but I do not see most customers moving away from CDNs and doing their own FMS installs at Amazon.

[francois]

Thanks for your thoughts - much appreciated!!

[Seth Geis]

Why is Real Networks' RBN (Real Broadcast Network) not listed? Streaming Media gave them the Best CDN 2007 award last November and they support signal acquisition, encoding and streaming of RM, WM and now FMS. I would think these guys would be on the list, here is the direct website: www.rbn.com

[Dan Rayburn]

Valid question Seth. Maybe they should be on there. Just don't know enough about who their customers are though. Some of the ones they list on their website have not been their customers in awhile. And I can't get any answers on whether they support Flash downloads, which anyone can do, or true Flash Streaming?

Also, just a clarification, StreamingMedia.com did not give them an award, readers of the magazine were the ones that voted.

[Dantek]

A great compliment to this list would be the addition of which ones offer the option of "no contract" and/or "no commit".

A suggestion to the CDN providers: Publishing this info on your website would probably generate many more leads. I think the PRO's should easily outweigh the CON's (if any).

[Sascha]

Does anyone know which, if any of these have a South American presence? And along those lines which have the best European representation?

TIA!

[Tango]

Dear Dan,why Thomson Technicolor CDN not included in list?
It's a very strong technology CDN company in video area.

[Dan Rayburn]

Thanks, they have been added.