Microsoft & Limelight Rumor: Understanding What Limelight Networks Offers

Last week seemed to be the week of many CDN rumors, one of which was Microsoft being interested in buying Limelight Networks. While I have no idea if that is the case, the blog posts and articles that followed the rumor were a great example showcasing how many people really don't understand the product offering that the different CDN providers have in the market today. Too many are still comparing one CDN provider to another unfairly. The term "content delivery" is used way too generically these days and folks tend to speak to it as if it covers every type of content under the sun, even when it doesn't.

Update: I am getting a lot of comments from those who are saying that Limelight does lots of other kinds of delivery and my choice of the word "only" is incorrect. While I know they do some, the majority of what they deliver is video and rich media content. But I did contradic myself when I said "only" video but then also said "mostly" video in another post. To be exact, I should have said "mostly" video in this post as well.

Numerous blogs all talked about how it would make sense for Microsoft to buy Limelight Networks so that Microsoft could accelerate it's own CDN build-out. SiliconAlleyInsider.com speculated that, "perhaps it (Microsoft) believes Limelight's infrastructure and expertise will help accelerate its transition to cloud computing. Specifically, instead of buying CDN services from Akamai, et al, Microsoft could now float MSN, Office Live, Silverlight, and other Software-As-A-Service products on top of the Limelight infrastructure." How is that? Limelight Networks does not offer application delivery, software as a service, static caching and most other forms of content delivery over their network today. Limelight specializes in running a network that is optimized specifically for the delivery of video content only. So Microsoft acquiring Limelight does nothing in the way of advancing their "cloud computing".

On the same day of this rumor, DataCenterKnowledge.com reported on some of the details surrounding the build-out by Microsoft of it's own "edge network". This gave some good insight into what Microsoft is working on however, the Microsoft person quoted in the post never used the word video. They said "edge network". Most video delivered on the Internet today is not delivered from the edge and most video is not cached like many seem to think. So what kind of content exactly is this Microsoft network going to deliver? I'd love to see a follow up story by DataCenterKnowledge.com talking to that.

Around the same time as this rumor, GigaOM.com ran a short post about Limelight's share price and revenue guidance and said, "Limelight spends about 60 cents on every $1 it earns just to provide service, whereas Akamai spends about 30 cents, I’m not sure how low Limelight can go. Or for how long." Yes, those numbers are correct, but not in the context they reported them. No one knows how much it costs Akamai to operate their network specific for video since they delivery many kinds of content. Again, Limelight delivers only video, so comparing Limelight's costs to deliver one kind of content, to Akamai's costs to deliver many kinds of content, is not a fair comparison. Using those numbers in that context is just plain wrong and set expectations wrong in the market.

I've said it many times before on my blog, you can only compare the CDN service from one company to another and not the companies themselves. The CDNs are out in the market making very clear statements about what they do and do not offer, yet it seems like no one wants to listen. At Akamai's recent analyst day, what did they focus most of their time on? Not CDN, but application delivery. They are trying to tell the market they do more than just content delivery of static images and video content. Limelight on the other hand is trying to educate the market about how they only delivery video and are the specialists when it comes to that kind of content. Level 3 is focusing on offering a bundled service of transit, co-lo, static CDN delivery, streaming etc.... same with Internap who is focusing on multiple products. In most cases, the CDNs are delivering a clear message to the market on what they do and do not offer in the way of a product portfolio yet it seems very few are paying attention to that and have a clear grasp of the products that make up the numbers.

Comments

[Brando]

You state that Limelight delivers video ONLY and that they do not deliver static files but this is completely false. A simple trip to their website reflects the following: Limelight Content Delivery provides unmatched performance and scalability for HTTP/web distribution of large libraries of large media objects to large Internet audiences. As such, it is the content delivery network (CDN) solution of choice for many media companies and other enterprises that require massive capacity and high reliability for delivering digital media files such as video, music, games, software and social media.

http://www.limelightnetworks.com/services_contentdelivery.html

[Dan Rayburn]

No, that is not what my blog post says. I said they don't do "static caching", I did not say they only do streaming.

Yes, the site says they do "HTTP delivery of large media files".... the key word their being "large" media files, not small image files that are cached.

[Brando]

Admit your error, correct the blog entry and move on. Your direct quotes from the article:

"Limelight Networks does not offer...static caching and other forms of content delivery over their network today. Limelight specializes in running a network that is optimized specifically for the delivery of video content only." -Wrong

"Again, Limelight delivers only video..." -Wrong

"Limelight on the other hand is trying to educate the market about how they only delivery (sic) video..." -Wrong

Limelight Networks is doing a lot of static file delivery...game file downloads, software application, patch & update file downloads, video and music file downloads (apart from HTTP progressive download) and static image delivery...at one point they cached MILLIONS of images for MySpace and Facebook. They continue to do so for other clients.

Limelight does a lot of business through caching static objects and files. Their site references delivery of JPEG and GIF (image) files: "Limelight Content Delivery supports the gamut of media servers, protocols, and formats with HTTP delivery of Flash Video, Windows Media, Real Networks, QuickTime, JPEG, GIF, MP3, and more..."

I'm not trying to be argumentative but your portrayal of Limelight as video delivery ONLY is clearly wrong.

[Dan Rayburn]

I still disagree. Limelight is very open with me in terms of the products and services they offer, what type of content is flowing over their network and what type of content they deliver. The delivery of static content, like images, is currently not a "product" at the company. Yes, they have some very limited customers who are doing some content other than video, but it is extremely small and it is not the norm. Caching of images and other content is not a defined product at the company today. I hope it will be down the road, but you can't get a product sheet from the company today about it.

Game file downloads is not static caching. Game file downloads is video content, so yes, I agree with that. And yes, they deliver audio only content as well as video, but I always lump audio in with video as the same thing. Audio/video.

[damien wetzel]

Dan i believe you are wrong :)
dam ~>dig www.limelightnetworks.com

; > DiG 9.4.1-P1 > www.limelightnetworks.com
;; global options: printcmd
;; Got answer:
;; ->>HEADER<<- opcode: QUERY, status: NOERROR, id: 51137
;; flags: qr rd ra; QUERY: 1, ANSWER: 2, AUTHORITY: 2, ADDITIONAL: 2

;; QUESTION SECTION:
;www.limelightnetworks.com. IN A

;; ANSWER SECTION:
www.limelightnetworks.com. 3583 IN CNAME llnw.vo.llnwd.net.
llnw.vo.llnwd.net. 333 IN A 87.248.221.221

[Dan Rayburn]

I'm going based on what the company has told me they do or do not offer in the way of a product offering. I will ask them again.

[someone]

80% of this article is completely wrong. trust me :)

[Dan Rayburn]

80% huh?

- Point me to examples of Limelight offering application delivery, software as a service, cloud computing, etc....

- Show me how the comparison of Akamai's network costs when compared to Limelights is fair.

- Show me how I am wrong when I say that Limelight is focusing on educating people on how their network is optimized for video when Limelight themselves says "... network is optimized for the large object sizes, large content libraries, and large audiences associated with compelling rich media content." Static images are not "rich media".

- Show me where the other CDNs I mention in the market are not delivering the marketing message I say they are.

Lots of people can say this or that, but I am only interested in facts and I try to give data behind every point I make based on what the company tells me and what I see from customers. Simply saying something is wrong, without any data behind why it is, does not show how it is wrong.

Re-hashing what is on Limelights website, with no customer examples, no links to the product descriptions, no links to public statements etc... and just saying something is wrong, does not give enough data points.

[I know]

LL doesn't have My Space as a customer anymore and hasn't for a while.

[Markus Salinsky]

Utter Tosh !
Dan - Limelight Networks delivers the Microsoft Windows Update patches every second tuesday of the month, are you going to call THAT a video download ?

P.S. I Know -MySpace is still a customer of Limelight (just not as big as before).

[Steve Lerner]

The confusion here can be solved simply by using the term 'large object' and 'small object' instead of 'video' and 'http'.

Most CDNs only deliver large objects- those are objects for which immediate access is not important. For example, downloading an operating system patch may take 35 seconds- but it doesn't matter if it takes 37 seconds or 32 seconds- the experience won't change.

A CDN that delivers the small objects on a web page must deliver those objects instantly... if a web page and its graphics takes 1 second to load, an increase of time to 3 seconds is unacceptable and the web pages owner will lose customers.

Separating vendors by object sizes will be far more accurate for discussion than by the format of the content, and then this topic will make sense and be accurate.

99% of CDNs are large object delivery services only or mostly... I can think of only one that is truly optimized for small object delivery.

[Streaming Drew]

http://jthomasser.wordpress.com/ Interesting customer experience with Limelight posted on this link