

CDN Performance - davej
http://forrst.com/posts/CDN_Performance-DME

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saurik
This article seriously tries to cast doubt on CDN usage by poorly quantifying
the performance of a couple services that don't even deserve the title "CDN".
The saddest part is that these services not only are poor performing, but are
even much more expensive than established services like Akamai (seriously,
talk to them: they are much cheaper than what CloudFront users seem to
believe).

~~~
davej
> […]much more expensive than established services like Akamai (seriously,
> _talk to them_ […])

Therein lies the problem, most sites are in the long tail (blogs, personal
websites, weekend web app projects) and it really doesn't make sense to go
talking to a CDN; this is where CloudFront excels.

~~~
saurik
CloudFront, again, is much more expensive than services like Akamai. I you
site isn't doing much traffic right now, but you think it will in the future,
you can discuss contracts with them that have clauses like "Akamai will be my
only CDN provider for the next two years" rather than having initial monthly
commits. CDNetworks (whom I currently use, as I find even Akamai's "cheaper
than CloudFront" too rich for my blood) also rolls forward unused data to
future months during your contract. CloudFront, seriously, is very very
expensive, and simply does not have enough nodes or functionality to actually
be worthwhile as a CDN.

~~~
davej
I'm not arguing with any of your points. I'm simply saying that the difference
between 'sign up now' and 'contact us now' is huge for most developers. I
don't want to discuss clauses and get approval, I want to type in my credit
card and go.

