Orchestrating massively distributed CDNs

Abstract

We consider a content delivery architecture based on geographically dispersed groups of "last-mile" CDN servers, e.g., set-top boxes located within users' homes. These servers may belong to administratively separate domains, such as multiple ISPs. We propose a set of scalable, adaptive mechanisms to jointly manage content replication and request routing within this architecture. Relying on primal-dual methods and fluid-limit techniques, we formally prove the optimality of our design. We further evaluate its performance on both synthetic and trace-driven simulations, based on real BitTorrent traces, and observe a reduction of network costs by more than 50% over traditional mechanisms such as LRU/LFU with closest request routing.