
Researchers Map Locations of Servers in Netflix’s Content Delivery Network - keepper
http://spectrum.ieee.org/tech-talk/telecom/internet/researchers-map-locations-of-4669-servers-in-netflixs-content-delivery-network
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boulos
It's interesting to contrast this with the Google Global Cache nodes at the
edge
([https://peering.google.com/#/infrastructure](https://peering.google.com/#/infrastructure)).
As Netflix expands globally, will they be in just as many locations? (Perhaps
not because streaming video is less latency sensitive than API responses and
search results).

I'm also curious if the public disclosure of this info means the researchers
didn't bother to do the same reverse engineering for say YouTube?

Disclosure: I work at Google on Cloud, but don't work on edge caching.

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milliams
In a similar vein there's a project at the moment to map the world's internet
infrastructure called The New Cloud Atlas
([http://newcloudatlas.org](http://newcloudatlas.org)) which describes itself
thus:

> The New Cloud Atlas is a global effort to map each data place that makes up
> the cloud in an open and accountable way. We have set out to find and map
> each warehouse data centre, each internet exchange, each connecting cable
> and switch. Anything of any physical significance in the operation of the
> cloud should be observed is some way, and recorded for everyone to see and
> use.

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joezydeco
I have a friend that runs IT for a large college campus in the Midwest. They
not only have a Netflix cache, but an Apple one as well.

The Netflix one runs at a few gigabit/sec at all times. The Apple one keeps
the WAN from going down on update day.

~~~
Something1234
What cache server do they use?

~~~
philjohn
Netflix provides their own -
[https://openconnect.netflix.com/en/](https://openconnect.netflix.com/en/)

I would imagine Apple provides something similar.

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joezydeco
From what I've been told, it's a rack-mounted unit that's sealed. That's about
it. The Apple unit contains iTunes content as well as iOS/OSX system updates.

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jakozaur
Direct link:
[http://arxiv.org/pdf/1606.05519v1.pdf](http://arxiv.org/pdf/1606.05519v1.pdf)

~~~
socmag
Thanks, much better!

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betaby
Honestly, why that's research worthy? That's not a new knowledge, that's
information is somewhat known to all employees, partners, various NMS vendors,
ISPs. 'Nice' graph and latex formatted article doesn't make that scientific
research. I guess there is to much useless "since" in style of 'I run
ping/traceroute from the couple of locations and here is my scientific
research'.

~~~
kafkaesq
It's not about "ping and traceroute"; it's about _organizing and mapping the
data_ (both logically and geographically) that come out tools like ping and
traceroute.

They aren't saying they've demonstrated quantum teleportation, or anything.
But for the subject matter at hand (and given that Netflix runs one of the
largest CDNs in the world), it's quite impressive.

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juandazapata
I thought that the "Netflix CDN" was AWS.

~~~
SteveNuts
Hasn't been for a while, the egress would be insanely expensive.

They use devices they call "Openconnect" for peering in ISPs
[https://openconnect.netflix.com/en/](https://openconnect.netflix.com/en/)

~~~
juandazapata
Thanks for clarifying. Very informative.

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bjt
It sounds like Netflix's host naming scheme is what made it possible for the
researchers to do this. I assume that means using regions and incrementing
counters in the hostnames.

Who wants to bet that in the next year we'll see their hostnames change to be
random-looking instead?

~~~
toomuchtodo
This won't happen. It would cause havoc when attempting to work with peering
partners and transit providers when troubleshooting.

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socmag
Can anyone provide more information on the server infrastructure than this
article:

[http://www.techhive.com/article/2158040/how-netflix-
streams-...](http://www.techhive.com/article/2158040/how-netflix-streams-
movies-to-your-tv.html)

It claims each server serves up to 10,000 streams simultaneously. So
operational peak capacity is at ~50M simultaneous streams.

Also, 10k streams at 1080p would be ~70Gbps per machine at full HD, or ~20Gbps
per machine at SD. With some blend of course being the norm.

There is of course a big difference between being capable of and actual and
FUD.

I'd really love to know what the internals of one of their streaming servers
might look like.

Anyone here who has architected a box with that capacity?

~~~
socmag
Someone pointed out the original paper, which has better estimates than my
back of the napkin calculation for traffic throughput. Good stuff.

Still would love to know more about the internals of their servers and support
infrastructure.

~~~
pyvpx
[https://openconnect.netflix.com/en/hardware/](https://openconnect.netflix.com/en/hardware/)

I believe there are some slight differences between what Netflix uses and the
OpenConnect machines placed inside ISP networks, but not by very much.

~~~
socmag
Awesome thanks!

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eatbitseveryday
Zero severs in Russia, China, Turkey, India..? Over 2 bn. people left out of
the market? I know not all have network access, but still. Not Russia or India
at least?

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rospaya
Outside of the US, content on Netflix varies from "bad" to "meh".

~~~
eatbitseveryday
Why not use VPN services like F-Secure + Netflix to access movies? Is Netflix
blocking them? I imagine they should not be, because of the recent ISP-
throttling scandals.

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probably_wrong
There are several levels of answers.

Is Netflix blocking VPNs? Yes. They didn't use to, but they started doing it
around a month or so ago. Some VPNs could route around it, some couldn't.

Alternative answer: using a VPN is against Netflix' TOS, so it's not really
different from regular piracy. You could argue that you pay for convenience,
but you could also argue that if you are going to open yourself to a lawsuit,
you might not want to do it with your personal credit card.

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anc84
How many did they find in Kansas?

