Keeping track of 70,000+ servers: the akamai query system

Abstract

The Akamai platformis a network of over 73,000 servers supporting numerous web infrastructure services including the distribution of static and dynamic HTTP content, delivery of live and on-demand streaming media, high-availability storage, accelerated web applications, and intelligent routing. The maintenance of such a network requires significant monitoring infrastructure to enable detailed understanding of its state at all times. For that purpose, Akamai has developed and uses Query, a distributed monitoring system in which all Akamai machines participate. Query collects data at the edges of the Internet and aggregates it at several hundred places to be used to answer SQL queries about the state of the Akamai network. We explain the design of Query, outline some of its critical features, discuss who some of its users are and what Query allows them to do, and explain how Query scales to meet demand as the Akamai network grows.