Qwilt Brings the Sharing Economy to Streaming Video Delivery
Just like Uber disrupted the paid ride industry, so caching specialist Qwilt is hoping to disrupt online video delivery. Today, Qwilt introduced Content Delivery Sharing, a model that bypasses content delivery networks (CDNs) and instead incentivizes ISPs to locate edge computing nodes on their networks and make them available for end-user streaming. This model, the company says, puts delivery capacity closer to viewers and avoids bottlenecks.
Qwilt acts as the traffic dispatcher in this scenario, pairing available resources with demand. The CDN business model is 20-years-old and due for an overhaul, the company asserts. Its solution puts resources at the edge (in ISP networks), with the ISPs themselves installing and operating the nodes. Publishers will work directly with the ISPs (through Qwilt's interface) and avoid CDNs.
The new delivery model is based on open caching, a set of specifications championed by Qwilt and developed by the Streaming Video Alliance. Open caching spells out ways for publishers to use in-ISP cache resources to deliver their content.
“Content Delivery Sharing is the solution publishers need to scale their streaming services for coming demand,” says Alon Maor, CEO of Qwilt and SVA board member. “Along with our service provider partners, we believe this new model for content delivery will establish the right trajectory for streaming capacity and scale that will benefit the entire ecosystem—publishers, services providers, and consumers.”
For an animated explanation, watch Qwilt's video:
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