It was only a matter of time before Amazon would decide to release a Content Delivery Network, and according to the company in an official statement released today, it has done just that.
Designed to complement its S3 storage service and EC2 web services, the CDN will be available later this year and will provide users with a high performance method of distributing content to end users. Amazon claims it will have low latency and high data transfer rates when users access the content and it will be specifically designed (in the beginning at least) for “developers and businesses who need to deliver popular, publicly readable content over HTTP connections.”
Although the CDN space is crowded with similar services from Akamai Technologies and Limelight Networks, Amazon thinks it knows how to be successful in the space. And one of the key components of its plan is to undercut others on price and make it much easier to buy CDN services.
According to Amazon, it will charge customers based on usage instead of the common practice of charging through long-term contracts, but it would not discuss pricing at this time.
Amazon getting into the CDN business seems like the ideal move for a company that’s trying to provide storage and on-demand computing services already. And considering its size makes it easier for it to adapt its business model to satisfy smaller businesses and those that are less likely to want to enter into long-term agreements, Amazon could quite easily push its competitors aside and cement itself as the leader in the market.
And with a video streaming and distribution service already in place, Amazon is quickly becoming a CDN for itself, so it may know a thing or two about providing a robust service to its customers when its CDN becomes available later this year.
