Resource management in a shared infrastructure video CDN

In any large scale distribution architecture, considerable thought needs to be given to resource management, particularly in the case of high quality TV on-demand. This work presents a globally accessible network storage architecture operating over a shared infrastructure, termed Video Content Distribution Network (VCDN). The goal of which is to store all TV content broadcast over a period of time within the network and make it available to clients in an on-demand fashion. This paper evaluates a number of content placement approaches in terms of their ability to efficiently manage system resources. Due to the dynamic viewing patterns associated with TV viewing, the effectiveness of content placement is expected to change over time, therefore so too should the content placement. The placement of content within such a system is the single most influential factor in resource usage. Intuitively, the further content is placed from a requesting client, the higher the total bandwidth requirements are. Likewise, the more replicas of an object that are distributed throughout the network, the higher the storage costs will be. Ideally, the placement algorithm should consider both these resources when making placement decisions. Another desirable property of the placement algorithm, is that it should be able to converge on a placement solution quickly. A number of placement algorithms are examined, each with different properties, such as minimizing delivery path. There are a large number of variables in such a system, which are examined and their impact on the algorithms performance is shown.