Cisco Offers Content Delivery Network System

Cisco Systems Inc. on Monday announced its Content Delivery Network (CDN) system, which offers services that address network management, performance and reliability issues.

Cisco CDN allows service providers to distribute content closer to the end user and deal with network bandwidth availability, distance or latency obstacles, origin server scalability and traffic congestion issues during peak usage periods, the company said in a statement. The system also enables businesses to expedite application deployment.

Cisco's CDN system is comprised of five technologies: content distribution and management, content routing, content edge delivery, content switching and intelligent network services. Cisco contends it is the only provider that integrates all five technologies.

Its new CDN system is designed for network service providers, overlay content service providers, online commerce companies, application service providers (ASPs), hosting service providers and emerging new-world service providers, Cisco said.

All new products added to Cisco's CDN offerings will be available by October.

Cisco earlier this year pushed itself deeper into the content delivery market.

In May, it acquired Arrowpoint Communications Inc. for US$5.7 billion. The Acton, Massachusetts-based company makes Web switches that are designed to optimize content delivery. Arrowpoint's products conduct URL- and cookie-based switching that direct traffic based on information contained in the content being requested and how often the content request occurs.

Also, Cisco bought SightPath Inc. for $800 million in March. SightPath, a network appliance maker in Waltham, Massachusetts, was acquired to assist Cisco customers with creating CDNs using existing Internet and intranet infrastructures. SightPath's appliances collect data on Web traffic, congestion and server load to assist in routing traffic in the most efficient manner.

Cisco Systems, in San Jose, California, is at +1-408-526-4000 or at http://www.cisco.com/.