Proxy-assisted periodic broadcast with multiple servers

Abstract

Large scale video streaming over Internet requires a large amount of resources such as server I/O bandwidth and network bandwidth. Periodic broadcast by a central server combined with proxy caching offers a significant reduction of the aggregate network and server I/O bandwidth usage. However, the resources available to a single server are still limited. We propose a system with multiple geographically distributed servers. Multiple servers beside offering increased resources and service availability, allow a further reduction of network bandwidth usage. The challenge is how to use multiple servers efficiently. We first analyze the dependence of the resource requirements on the number and locations of the servers in a proxy-assisted periodic broadcast video delivery system. Based on the character of the dependence, we formulate and solve the problem of video location and delivery in a way that minimizes resource usage.