Fastly launches Origin Connect
January 17, 2020
Designed to give media brands a more reliable and cost effective way to stream content, edge cloud platform provider Fastly has unveiled Origin Connect, a direct private network connection between an organisation’s origin server and a Fastly Shield point of presence (POP).
Fastly says this is ideal for companies moving more than one gigabyte of data, such as media, video, and streaming companies and an effective way to lower transit costs, reduce engineering complexity, and improve reliability for high-volume streaming content.
Fastly notes that the ability to instantly stream content has changed the way music, TV series, and movies are made and consumed. Video or music that lags or constantly buffers makes for disappointing user experiences, so streaming services need reliable delivery connections that keep up with the increasingly data-heavy demands of streaming without having to depend on congested, or expensive, transit.
It suggests that using Origin Connect is akin to plugging directly into an outlet instead of connecting to an extension cord first. Companies will benefit from the direct connection necessary to reduce transit costs as well as the risks of content lag associated with any additional path content travels to get from initial client request to an origin server, and all the way back to the end-user. According to Fastly, the benefits of using Origin Connect include:
- Reliability: A direct, private peering connection increases the predictability of traffic sent across dedicated bandwidth and reduces the number of hops in a network path. As a result, there are fewer providers involved in getting traffic from the organization’s servers to Fastly’s network and back again.
- Reduced transit costs: Customers using Origin Connect will no longer pay egress costs for outbound traffic from their origin server since they are shipping that traffic over a private connection directly to Fastly.
- Availability: Origin Connect improves the availability of content and streaming services by reducing the risks of failed origin requests, whether from network congestion or from shared public infrastructure between upstream providers.
- Performance: Reduced latency and more consistent and predictable performance as a result of the lack of in-between transit and upstream providers and a dedicated fibre interconnect.
“Helping our customers meet their end-users’ expectations is our top priority, and today, the media industry is subject to some of the strongest scrutiny when it comes to user experience and content delivery,” said Dana Wolf, senior vice president of product and marketing at Fastly. “But making good on those expectations has typically come at a high price with other solutions. Our Origin Connect offering is a win-win for both our customers who will reduce egress costs of delivering this content, and for their viewers who will enjoy a more reliable streaming experience. We’re excited to continue to do our part in contributing to the media community’s ongoing focus on innovation.”
Fastly’s Origin Connect follows on the heels of the expanding adoption of its edge offerings and services across leading European media and entertainment brands.