May 22, 2000

 

 

NTT Communications Corporation (NTT Com) and Akamai Technologies*1, a US-based Internet content delivery service provider, today announced that they jointly commenced a trial of optimal content delivery via the Internet at two NTT Com data centers in Japan, including one in Okinawa.

In the future, NTT Com will—in cooperation with NTT Data—make its Okinawa Data Center a server-oriented farm that is equivalent to data centers in Tokyo and Osaka, as well as establish servers for content delivery of video images and music, etc.

The aim of the test is to further enrich the content delivery platform*2 service for content companies in keeping with the ever-expanding need for transmitting broadband data, such as video images. NTT Com has been actively supporting content companies through the provision of its Arcstar Smart Content Delivery Service*3, an international Internet delivery service.

Overview of Optimal Content Delivery via the Internet

Web servers from Akamai Technologies, the industry’s largest content delivery service provider, will be placed inside NTT Com’s Okinawa and another data center, which are connected to the company’s high-speed IP network. Akamai’s servers will automatically obtain, save and renew the popular contents from the U.S. Web sites of CNN and Yahoo, and others. This trial will enable the delivery of content from NTT Com’s servers in Japan, such as in Okinawa, unlike in the past when users gained access overseas (see Attachment).

This trial will enable content companies to deliver the U.S. contents distributed by Akamai on their behalf to end users more quickly and reliably. Also, NTT Com will be able to effectively use its international network since this trial will not require it to use international networks to distribute content.

With this trial, NTT Com will evaluate the effectiveness of content delivery and the optimal network construction for content delivery.

Future Developments

NTT Com plans to expand its content delivery platform and make the Okinawa Data Center a server-oriented farm.

Based on verification of the trial results, NTT Com will expand its content delivery platform service on behalf of content companies and enterprises. This is intended to be a major part of its domestic and international Arcstar Data Center Service.

Using this trial as a starting point, NTT Com will equip the Okinawa Data Center in order to make it a server-oriented farm for content delivery in accordance with the Japanese government’s plan to make Okinawa a special district for international communications. Specifically, it will construct a delivery platform for distributing content over the Internet. Such actions are aimed at meeting the demand for domestic and international (mainly between the United States and Asia) content delivery, which is expected to explode in the future.

Aside from this trial with Akamai, NTT Com will promote tie-ups with other major content distributors. Moreover, it is currently negotiating with domestic and international content companies to work jointly with it at the Okinawa Data Center.



Notes:

*1 Akamai Technologies:
Akamai is a leader in distributed content, streaming video, and applications delivery, serving over 1,000 customers. Akamai’s EdgeAdvantage‘ technology utilizes sophisticated algorithms to monitor the Internet on a real-time basis, understands the location of the requesting user, and makes intelligent decisions about the best and most efficient Akamai edge server from which to deliver content to the end user. Akamai has the broadest deployment of servers for content, streaming media, and applications delivery with more than 3,000 servers, in over 45 countries directly connected to more than 160 Internet backbones, ISPs, cable head ends, DSL providers and satellite facilities. Akamai Technologies is headquartered in Massachusetts, USA, and has offices in Europe.

*2 Content Delivery Platform:
A network environment that enables high-speed content distribution over the Internet. It temporarily stores content from popular sites and broadband data, such as sound and images, in advance on multiple delivery servers. The Platform then connects end-users to the nearest delivery server, resulting in smooth, seamless access. The Platform not only delivers content at high speed, but also improves service reliability through automatic switching. In addition, for Internet service providers, it reduces congestion on the backbone network by delivering content from Japan instead of the conventional way via servers in overseas locations, including the United States, thus improving quality to end users.

*3 Arcstar Smart Content Delivery Service:
An international Internet delivery service for content companies that establish their servers at worldwide data centers operated by the NTT Communications group. The group offers Local Delivery Service, which enhances server reliability at a single site, and Global Delivery Service that re-routes access from end-users to the nearest server. The service was launched on April 14, in Japan and the United States, and it will be expanded to Europe, Hong Kong, Australia and Singapore.