Google Cloud has launched a new content distribution network which combines YouTube’s global network infrastructure with developer tools and machine learning-powered analytics. Credit: YouTube TV Google Cloud has launched a new media and content delivery network (CDN) platform called Media CDN that allows large media and streaming customers to tap into Google’s global YouTube network. The new platform blends the same infrastructure as the Google-owned video streaming service, with Google Cloud’s existing Cloud CDN portfolio. Customers will have access to a range of APIs and automation tools, while pre-aggregated metrics and playback tracing will allow users to monitor performance across the entire infrastructure stack. The platform also offers integrations with Google Cloud’s operations suite and other observability tools such as Grafana and ElasticSearch. Media CDN also supports the creation of more interactive experiences, such as custom ad insertions, ecosystem integrations, and platform extensibility. For example, streaming providers can use the Video Stitcher API to improve monetization through integrated ad serving. According to The Global Internet Phenomena Report from January 2022, video streaming accounted for 53.7% of all bandwidth traffic in the first half of 2021. To combat this strain on existing infrastructure, performance and capacity stress can be alleviated through multiple tiers of caching in order to minimize calls back to origin. These features are built into the Google product and support customer content hosted either on Google Cloud, on-premises, or via a third-party cloud, such as Microsoft Azure or Amazon Web Services. Media CDN also adapts delivery protocols to individual users and network conditions, with the platform offering out-of-the-box support for the modern QUIC (HTTP/3), TLS 1.3, and BBR transport standards. According to Google, Media CDN has the ability to reach viewers in more than 1,300 cities across 200 countries. While alternative CDN vendors like Microsoft, Amazon Web Service, Fastly and Cloudflare all offer their own CDN services, none can claim the power of the YouTube network backing their services. Ghassan Abdo, IDC research vice president for telecom, virtualization, and CDN, said that on first glance, Google Cloud’s Media CDN looks like a powerful combination of geographic reach, an API-first architecture, and integration with the existing Google Cloud operations suite. “This is a transformative move that is aligned with the future of the CDN industry,” he said. Related content news HPE Aruba looks to fight AI threats with AI weapons HPE Aruba Networking Central gains AI-powered security observability and monitoring features. By Michael Cooney May 07, 2024 4 mins IoT Security Network Security news AI features boost Cisco's Panoptica application security software Cisco pads cloud-native security platform Panoptica with features that help customers protect containerized, microservice applications. By Michael Cooney May 07, 2024 5 mins Network Security Cloud Computing news analysis Red Hat extends Lightspeed generative AI tool to OpenShift and Enterprise Linux Red Hat's Lightspeed, a gen AI-powered assistant, will be extended to RHEL and OpenShift to help enterprises that want to use Linux, automation, and hybrid clouds but may not have the skills in house. By Maria Korolov May 07, 2024 4 mins Linux Network Management Software Servers news analysis Red Hat introduces 'policy as code' for Ansible New 'policy as code' capability for the Red Hat Ansible automation platform is aimed at reducing human error and the cost of implementing compliance directives. By Maria Korolov May 07, 2024 5 mins Linux Network Management Software PODCASTS VIDEOS RESOURCES EVENTS NEWSLETTERS Newsletter Promo Module Test Description for newsletter promo module. Please enter a valid email address Subscribe