Category Archives: Web Performance

Stacking CDNs for Improved Performance and Security

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I recently worked with a client whose large e-commerce site was hosted with a popular cloud-based commerce solution. Its business was growing rapidly into new geographic markets, and it was not satisfied with the embedded content delivery network (eCDN) that was bundled with the cloud solution. We demonstrated that stacking CDNs — adding Akamai’s Ion solution on top of the eCDN — could significantly improve performance as well as provide the client with much greater control over its delivery configuration Continue reading Stacking CDNs for Improved Performance and Security→

Maintaining an Energy-Efficient Edge Platform

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Over the past 20 years, we’ve seen a lot of growth at Akamai. When I started at Akamai, we used to have traffic peaks of almost 200 Mbps. From that fledgling startup, Akamai has now grown to such a scale that we almost doubled network capacity in 2020 … Continue reading Maintaining an Energy-Efficient Edge Platform→

Maintaining an Energy-Efficient Edge Platform

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Over the past 20 years, we’ve seen a lot of growth at Akamai. When I started at Akamai, we used to have traffic peaks of almost 200 Mbps. From that fledgling startup, Akamai has now grown to such a scale that we almost doubled network capacity in 2020 and were able to serve peaks of almost 200 Tbps. In short, just like the internet, Akamai has undergone quite the evolution. But as we’ve grown, so have our environmental impacts. In fact, the internet as a whole is responsible for more than 2% of global emissions, having the same impact as the airline industry. Our online streaming, learning, working, shopping, and playing habits have all started to add up. Continue reading Maintaining an Energy-Efficient Edge Platform→

Sustainability at Akamai: An Efficient Platform Powered by Energy Aggregation

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If I had a dollar for every time I heard "2020 was an unprecedented year", I could fund a clean energy project myself. And while we’re tired of hearing it, it’s true. Among the pandemic, U.S. presidential election, social justice movements, the… Continue reading Sustainability at Akamai: An Efficient Platform Powered by Energy Aggregation→

Sustainability at Akamai: An Efficient Platform Powered by Energy Aggregation

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If I had a dollar for every time I heard "2020 was an unprecedented year", I could fund a clean energy project myself. And while we’re tired of hearing it, it’s true. Among the pandemic, U.S. presidential election, social justice movements, the finalization of Brexit, and many other new and life-changing events, it can be hard to find the good, let alone celebrate it. Continue reading Sustainability at Akamai: An Efficient Platform Powered by Energy Aggregation→

How the Edge Improves Microservices

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Microservice architecture has transformed the way we develop and operate our applications. Microservices aren’t a technology or a programming language. Instead, they create a structure for designing and building applications based on the idea that the … Continue reading How the Edge Improves Microservices→

How the Edge Improves Microservices

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Microservice architecture has transformed the way we develop and operate our applications. Microservices aren’t a technology or a programming language. Instead, they create a structure for designing and building applications based on the idea that the individual functions of a website should operate independently. From this simple concept comes a multitude of benefits including: Continue reading How the Edge Improves Microservices→

What’s the Value of a Key-Value Store?

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A database back end for your application is vital, and odds are that your database is a relational database or a "not only SQL" (NoSQL) database. Relational databases have dominated the software industry for decades, even as other technologies have radically changed around it. A relational database management system (RDBMS) should be understood as though management system is in bold type, as you must actively manage the data contained within it. Continue reading What’s the Value of a Key-Value Store?→

What’s the Value of a Key-Value Store?

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A database back end for your application is vital, and odds are that your database is a relational database or a "not only SQL" (NoSQL) database. Relational databases have dominated the software industry for decades, even as other technologies … Continue reading What’s the Value of a Key-Value Store?→