What is streaming? In the Internet, the word Streaming is used to represent audio and video files that start to play in the user computer before it downloads completely. As soon as the media begins to download it starts to play right away, and while the file is being downloaded it continues to play. Audio and video files used to transmit live events also use streaming technology.
	What kind of equipment do I need to make a VOD (Video-On-Demand)? To make a VOD (Video-On-Demand) broadcast you don't need any special equipment, just the media file that will be broadcasted. Although the media file could be stored in the origin server, it is recommended to upload it to an Akamai storage area, where multiple requests to that particular file could be answered, thus avoiding the overload in the origin server.
	What kind of equipment do I need to make a Live? To make a Live boradcasting over the Internet you will need a video capture equipment, like a Webcam; a encoder, the software that will encode the video stream in one of the known digital formats: Windows Media, Real, QuickTime; and enough bandwidth to transmit only one stream to guarantee the smooth transmission from the encoder.
	What are the benefits of streaming implementation in a Web site? With streaming capability, a Web site becomes more attractive to the final user, allowing more interaction. For example, with streaming it's possible to watch small news, promotional videos and even pay-per-view content.
	Will the customer be able to freely modify the contents delivered by Arturai Data Streaming? Once "akamaized", the customer will be able to change the contents from his Web site that he wishes to "akamize". This will allow the customer to quickly modify, on the origin server, the contents that he wishes to be delivered by this process. Together with the use of Reports, the customer can get different information about the final users' behaviour while surfing on his Web site.
	What is the Akamai experience with streaming media delivery? Nowadays, the Akamai streaming media service is used to deliver Live and VOD (Video-on-Demand) streaming all around the world over the Internet with an incomparable experience. Akamai has important customers such as Apple, CNN, Microsoft, Victoria's Secret, Yahoo!... among others.
	What kind of streaming media formats are support by Arturai Data Streaming? Arturai Data Streaming, powered by Akamai, has support for all standard formats, more specifically Windows Media, Real Technologies and Apple QuickTime.
	My Web site is very dynamic, is it possible to make use of any of your products? The fact that your site is too dynamic doesn't make any difference because the customer can define the time intervals that each object of his site will be refreshed in our servers.
	How can I track my Web site if its contents are "akamaized"? If you are using our streaming solution, the Webmaster can set which media contents will be delivered by the Akamai network. With Arturai Data Streaming, the customers don't have the responsibility to deliver the media content, but, at the same time, they have control over the contents' delivery hits. This method allows the customer to keep control of his relationship with the final users and know many visited his website.
	In which Portuguese ISPs do you have your servers?  We have servers in the most important Portuguese ISPs and international ISPs. We have more than 15,500 servers in more than 77 countries.
	Will your products and solutions integrations make any changes in my company's IT infrastructure? Our products and solutions integration will not affect your actual IT infrastructure. We will only require your help to answer some standard questions about your company's IT architecture to help us present you with the best integration method and any tools if needed.
	Is the integration in the Akamai platform difficult? Will I have to shut down my servers? No, the integration in the Akamai platform is very simple with a different solution for each situation, that will be analyzed by our consulting team with information given by your technical staff. Your site activity will not be disturbed during the integration period.
	How long does the integration on your network take? The "akamaization" of a Web site is a simple process that, in most  cases, could be completed in a matter of hours. The tool used in the "akamaization" process is a simple software utility that is sent by e-mail to the client to perform the integration.
	Will my site URL be located on the Akamai site? Not really, we will make some changes on your DNS records in order for the Akamai servers to get the content from your servers. Later, the contents will be delivered  upon request from the final users.
	Is it necessary new hardware or software to be used in the integration? From the client's point of view there will be no need to install new operating systems and new hardware, such as routers or switches, keeping the original identity of the Web site. From the final user's point of view, there will be no modifications on his PC or browser.
	How do you monitor the service? Akamai monitors the Internet and its server network at its NOC (Network Operations Center) 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, being able to answer right away any problem that surfaces anytime. All the network systems are monitored to ensure that key processes are running, that the systems aren't working beyond their capacity and the interaction between different network regions is optimal. Since it is a fault tolerant system, when a failure takes place, the nearby systems automatically takes control until a specialized team from the Akamai's NOC corrects the problem.
	In which aspects your service is superior than the competition? In today's Internet our service is the most reliable and our team has acquired the necessary experience throughout the years. This guarantees our professionalism in our services and in our solutions.
	What are the Akamai network's characteristics? The global Akamai network is strategically placed at the edge of the Internet. Today, the network has more than 15,500 servers installed through more than 1,200 carriers and ISPs in more than 77 countries. This network allows the contents to be delivered to the final users from the nearest server.
	Can I limit my Web site's traffic in accordance with the contracted CVR? The contents delivery using Arturai Data Streaming can be precisely controlled, but the amount of Gigabytes expent by the customer is not limited to a maximum.
	What does happen if an Akamai server fails? The Akamai content servers have another server "by their side". This second server monitors the first, and if it detects any problem it will assume the first server IP address and will start to answer users requests. As soon as all requests are answered, both servers are put out of the available list of servers and no other request is sent to them until both servers are put back on service. In this way, the contents' requests to these servers will be answered by other Akamai servers where the content is also cached.
	What do happen if a network or data center becomes unavailable? In the case of a situation like this, the network intelligent monitoring algorithms will detect variations caused by the failure, and will redirect the content of those servers to other ones. The traffic is routed in order to reflect the new network map, and the Akamai takes a snapshot of the network every 5 minutes. This map reflects the network conditions and its critical points, detecting the probable data center failure. In this way, the result is to route the traffic to another node near the troubled data center.
	What is the advantage of a Content Delivery service? Our Content Delivery service will let you optimize the final users access to your Web site, guaranteeing a global presence with an unmatchable performance and the possibility to make richer contents without affecting the site's performance and the Internet bandwidth, thus ensuring a continuous interaction with the final user and track the Web site's traffic in real time.
	Why do my contents have to be stored in your servers? When you have your content delivered by Akamai servers, you avoid the increase of Internet bandwidth on the origin server and ensure an excellent performance to all final users without Internet congestion and problems related to traffic peaks. And you can make upgrades to your site's content without interfering with its performance and availability.
	What kind of contents can be delivered using the Content Delivery service? The Content Delivery service is capable to deliver any content that can be distributed over the Internet, such as Html, JavaScript, asp, php, banners, icons, graphics, audio and video streaming, and software download... among others
	Can a virus infect the Akamai network and my contents once they are stored there? No, because the Akamai network uses Intel architecture with an operating system based on Linux, which is not as vulnerable as Windows based systems. The Akamai servers don't process or execute any content from its clients in the edge servers. Thus, the possibility of infection from infected contents from the clients doesn't exist. Further more, the communication between Akamai servers happens with authentication processes, and one server that is compromised will not compromise the others.
	If my final users have a good Internet connection will I need any Akamai solution? Well, it is logical to supose that a good Internet connection in the "last mile" of your final users makes unnecessary the use of Akamai solutions. Although is not quite correct for some reasons. As the "last mile" Internet connections get more speed, the content providers will also make available richer and heavier content, and a lot of Web sites aren't designed to support different bandwidths. To move this rich and heavy content near to the final users, the Web sites will continue to offer them a good service with a quicker content delivery than before. However, since high speed connections and heavier content are available at the same time, it will be easier to maximize the Web server capacity. By serving the content from Akamai servers, the content providers can reach a larger number of final users who can be supplied with their content without any infrastructure upgrade.
	Can I limit my traffic to the contracted CIR? The traffic can be controlled in details but is not limited to a maximum Mbps value.
	Does the service support SSL? Recently, Akamai has developed a complete end-to-end solution. Users can securely communicate, using SSL, with an Akamai server, and this server can retrieve the content from the origin server with a secure connection using SSL. Akamai is also officially recognized as a SSL certificates provider.
	We have been considering using a caching solution. The Content Delivery is very different from the usual caching solution. Our service monitors the Internet condition and with its intelligent algorithm decides which is the most efficient way to deliver the content. Today, the Content Delivery has a cache hit ratio above 90% for the global hosts, while a traditional caching solution has a hit ratio between 30% and 40%.
	Is Akamai only a mirror/cache system? No, Akamai is not only a mirror/cache system because it performs an intelligent delivery of contents using proprietary algorithms, establishing the optimal server for a particular user. Akamai also has other services that guarantee your site's availability even in the event of the origin servers' failure or during maintenance periods, and also reinforces your site's security.
	What is the difference between Akamai's solution and traditional caching? There are three major differences: 1. The intelligent algorithms used by Akamai deliver the contents from the nearest server to the final user and this way this server will not get overloaded. Other solutions trust their contents to a third party hardware and can't find the optimal server in an intelligent way. 2. The core of Akamai's solution is an added value services platform with unlimited scalability. While other companies offer services based on traditional caching solutions, Akamai uses multiple caches interaction over many networks. This operational method provides the maximum quality to the final user, allowing the flexibility to work with the best technology. 3. Only caching methods doesn't optimize the Web site's performance, because this procedure resides in some refresh routines and duplication of the contents, this method can also hinder the interaction with the final users (e.g. cookies manipulation). However, the Content Delivery solution gives full content control to the Webmaster, allowing him to serve customized contents.
	How do you perform your invoicing procedures? Only once, when we celebrate the contract, an activation fee will be charged. Every month, in advance, we will invoice the customer with the fees for the CVR (Committed Volume Rate) as it was stated in the contract and the CVR in excess for each month. As an option, the customer can sign a contract of CSR (Committed Storage Rate) for the multimedia contents that are not delivered and the associated excess. Another option in the contract is the Akamai Reporter, a tool that gives reports every month, and professional consulting services.
	How will the customer be invoiced for the service? Each server in the Akamai network stores precise records regarding the streaming contents that were delivered and when they were delivered. This information, stored individually by each server that delivered the content, is periodically put together in the same database. Using this database, one for each customer, we can analyze the contents volume that was delivered by each server. The customer's invoice will state the fees for the CVR (Committed Volume Rate) for a particular month and, if applicable, additional fees for the CVR in excess for the previous month and other contracted options.
	How does the customer can have information about the invoiced services? Akamai stores the invoice data and traffic data in the same database . Using the "reporter" tool it's possible to access recent information that will help the customer understand the invoiced service. This information includes the possibility to visualize the geographic location of a particular user requesting your content, and also a graphic representation for the Mbps traffic, Hits/sec and most requested content.
	What is the SLA offered by the service? We guarantee that the average daily download time, with the Content Delivery service, is always better than the direct download from the origin Web site. This is measured and processed using a method of average, calculated in test pages. If the download time in our service is greater than the download time from the Web site, we will give return to the customer the fee equivalent for that day. For the availability we guarantee a service of 100% up-time.

New question