Thanks to Advection.NET's modular architecture, we're able to rapidly invent and deploy new technologies to make delivering streaming video easier and more reliable. This list captures some of our more notable VDN updates, but to keep on top of the latest changes, please visit our blog, updated constantly by our 24/7 network operations team.
2010
Advection.NET Enables Content Owners to Deliver Video to the iPad
April 4, 2010
While proprietary players such as Flash and Silverlight are more common today, we believe the web shouldn't be locked into to any particular company's technology. For video to be as "open" as HTML and other Internet standards, "you must be able to implement and deliver that technology without requiring anyone’s permission or license... on a royalty-free basis." We've been recommending an HTML5 video player since June 2009. Now that the iPad is available in the US, customers who had implemented HTML5 video support, can see their videos playing seamlessly on iPads.
Advection.NET Unveils Real-time User Engagement Tracking
March 10, 2010
Running on top of Advection's distributed VDN software, the new service gives content owners unparalleled visibility into their viewer's behavior and QoS. The new data can be automatically fed into customer's own web services, or queried via an API. The tracking information is available even before the end user has finished watching. Current implementation supports Windows Media and Silverlight; support for Flash is planned in Q2.
2009
Advection.NET adds Flash support to Pay-Per-Minute
November 16, 2009
Advection.NET launches a Flash version of its Pay-Per-Minute (PPM) technology, which allows restricting time for viewing your paid media content hosted on our network. The PPM technology is applicable to both on-demand and live content. Entertainment content may be suited to this model, which works much like pre-paid long distance phone cards or cell phone plans. The user purchases a batch of minutes, and then can use those minutes across your choice of video or audio in your library of content.
Advection.NET Delivers Apple's HTTP Adaptive Streaming to iPhones
June 30, 2009
Apple’s new HTTP adaptive streaming is supported by the iPhone 3.0’s Safari browser and QuickTime player, without any other apps. Based on a user's connection, video quality will adjust in real time. By serving HTTP adaptive streaming from Advection.NET to the iPhone, customers can deliver live-streaming, fast-loading, high-quality video in QuickTime right to their users' hands.
Advection.NET Supports Silverlight 3 and Smooth Streaming
March 18, 2009
Silverlight 3 introduces more than 50 new features, including dramatic video quality and performance improvements. With support for native H.264 video, AAC audio, live and on-demand Smooth Streaming, and full HD (720p+) playback, Silverlight 3 brings rich, full-screen, stutter-free media experiences to Windows and Mac OSX desktops.
Advection.NET Releases Stream Calc 1.0 for iPhone
March 15, 2009
Have you ever wondered what kind of network capacity would be required in order to stream a high-quality 1-hour event to 5 million users or how much it would cost? Or, the lowest amount you can charge for your Pay-Per-View content while staying profitable? This FREE application offers handy calculations for streaming media professionals, CDN account managers, network engineers and content owners that are using a CDN or are in the process of selecting one. Use Stream Calc to perform CDN capacity planning for live events ("size of the pipe", or peak throughput in Gigabytes per second), estimate monthly data transfer (in Gigabytes or Terabytes), or figure out monthly hosting costs based on traffic. Product info ...
Advection.NET Signs PlayReady Services Agreements with Microsoft
February 10, 2009
Advection.NET extends support for new Microsoft video technologies, by adding advanced PlayReady capabilities to its MS Premier Certified Media Delivery Network. Microsoft PlayReady is content access technology that is optimized to help mobile operators, content-service providers, handset manufacturers, and independent software vendors (ISVs) to create products and services for digital entertainment and commerce.
Advection.NET Launches Advection.RU
February 8, 2009
Advection.NET launches a new website in Russian targeting Eastern European markets. Tailored to regional Internet infrastructure and business models, it offers information on distributing and monetizing content outside of local markets, leveraging the cost-effective Advection VDN.
2008
Advection.NET Rolls Out Live Flash Streaming with Paid Media Features
October 24, 2008
To help customers delivery top quality H.264 streams across all modern operating systems, Advection.NET adds support for live and on-demand Flash Streaming as a Wowza Streaming Partners, elite service providers using Wowza Media Server® Pro to deliver the highest quality Flash streaming experience to their customers. Voted the #1 choice for media streaming, the industrial-strength Wowza Media Server Pro has revolutionized Flash streaming with its unmatched performance and innovative capabilities that make live, on-demand and interactive Flash streaming feasible for a broad range service provider, entertainment, social media, advertising, enterprise, education, government, and Internet commerce customers. The entire Advection.NET global video delivery network is now live and on-demand Flash streaming enabled.
Advection.NET Adds European Union Distribution Hub
October 18, 2008
Advection.NET launches a new multi-gigabit streaming distribution hub with an 80 Gbps connection to the Amsterdam Peering Exchange (AMS-IX), one of the world's largest and fastest growing Internet exchanges. With the addition of this hub in Amsterdam, Netherlands, Advection.NET further improves high-definition/low latency streaming to its customers’ European viewers.
Advection.NET Beta Launches Social Media Portal Engine
September 15, 2008
Together with one of the biggest domain names in the world, Advection.NET ties social community features such as profiles, friends, photos, and blogs, together with their e-commerce store for physical goods, and their video on demand portal for movie downloads and rentals.
Advection.NET Adds Geo-Targeting and Geo-Restriction Protections
April 4, 2008
Building on the success of Advection.NET's deep-link prevention and pay-per-minute technologies, Advection.NET's global video delivery network has been upgraded to support permitting or denying streams and downloads by arbitrary geographic areas. Customers can allow viewers from certain countries, deny viewers from certain states, target some continents but not others, or any combination of geographic detail. Current customers should download an upgraded Developers Guide for more details.
Advection.NET Launches Automated Transcoding Farm and API
March 14, 2008
Advection.NET allows customers to easily convert digital video for streaming, downloads, set top boxes, or portable media players with its new high performance transcoding server farm. Upload uncompressed media to Advection.NET for automated transcoding into multiple profiles for digital downloads or streaming media formats. For customers operating a user generated content ("UGC") site that allows visitors to upload their own video, Advection.NET accepts that video and converts it into the digital downloads or streaming media format the customer's site offers.
2007
Advection.NET Handles Two Billion Requests a Month
November 30, 2007
Demonstrating continuing network growth, the Advection.NET video delivery network passed 2 billion requests handled in November of 2007. The same month is also a high water mark for popular Flash content, with each of the most popular Flash videos accounting for more than a hundred terabytes transfer on its own. With ten domestic and international data centers, the Advection.NET video delivery network is ready to handle your traffic, while simplifying delivery and saving you money too.
Advection.NET Helps Microsoft Launch Silverlight 1.0
September 4, 2007
Microsoft Corp. today released to the Web (RTW) Silverlight™ 1.0, a cross-browser, cross-platform plug-in for delivering richer user experiences on the Web. In addition, Microsoft will work with Novell Inc. to deliver Silverlight support for Linux, called Moonlight, and based on the project started on mono-project.com. Silverlight significantly reduces development and deployment costs and provides enhanced Web audio and video streaming and playback using industry-leading Windows Media® Technologies. Microsoft unveiled new Silverlight customer experiences on “Entertainment Tonight,” HSN and World Wrestling Entertainment, and also launched the Silverlight Partner Initiative, a program designed to foster collaboration among solution providers, content delivery networks, tools vendors and design agencies. Advection.NET is listed among
Advection.NET Introduces the “Advection Media Platform”
May 16, 2007
Advection.NET builds on its founders’ fifteen years’ experience in innovative social community and v-commerce development for media properties (ranging from Sony's 1996 "Where the Music Takes You" community, to House of Blues’ HOB.com media store in 2000, to Ecko Unltd.’s user generated video community launched in fall '06), to create the Advection Media Platform ("AMP"): a toolbox of media and community APIs for building extreme scalability "web 2.0"-style community sites with paid media features. AMP is tightly integrated with our VDN to give customers total control over media delivery and user behavior data mining. We've been working on AMP since August of 2006, and are ready to start sharing it with our current customers. Contact us for info on participating.
Advection.NET Launches “Service Manager” Beta
March 26, 2007
Advection.NET launches a beta of its "Advection.NET Service Manager", a simple web interface helping less technical users to manage their media on Advection.NET.
2006
Advection.NET Doubles for Fifth Year Running
December 31, 2006
Advection.NET doubled revenue for the fifth year running, while remaining self-funded and profitable, and still based only on word of mouth. In fact, we were so busy building sites and delivering media for our wholesalers’ customers, we neglected to update this news. This wasn't just a big year for us, it was a big year for the streaming industry as a whole, thanks to Google's big buzz acquisition of YouTube (although, technically, YouTube isn't streaming, it's downloads) and consumers upgrading to broadband. Instead of CDNs having to upsell prospects on why they should offer video, customers started demanding it. Established brands such as Dell, Budweiser, NBA, Motorola, or Amazon, as well as startup after startup, kept our private label or wholesale customers—and consequently us—working overtime. Their unprecedented growth was nearly outpaced by demand from established companies that hadn't previously seen the value of online video. Meanwhile, Flash video took off, refocusing Apple and Microsoft on improving their audio and video platforms, which benefits everyone. What’s next? The rollup of CDNs in the last quarter of 2006 leaves an opportunity for a video delivery network ("VDN") that knows how to deliver the largest streaming video properties and how to help customers launch vertically integrated online video projects fast. We're keeping an eye on that, and looking at great new technologies like Silverlight we can use to help you reach wider audiences more cost effectively. The sky's the limit.
2005
Advection.NET Adds Locus Software Line, Updates Appliances
August 23, 2005
Auragan, LLC, d/b/a Advection.NET, has introduced a line of appliances, software, and server plug-ins, to help content providers jump-start their streaming media and digital rights management initiatives. The products are real-world proven, having been in use on the Advection.NET network or for other clients since mid-2002.
Advection.NET Adds European Union Distribution Hub
July 31, 2005
With the launch of an additional gigabit streaming distribution hub in Frankfurt, Germany, Advection.NET further improves high-definition/low latency streaming to its customers’ European viewers.
Advection.NET Upgrades Streaming Services
June 1, 2005
Advection.NET deploys Auragan’s Locus CSRP™ acceleration plug-ins across all data centers. This Windows Media Server plug-in relies on and builds on the intelligence in Auragan’s Locus 3s™ appliance to distribute media management and content redirection to all media servers, effectively creating an extremely scalable peer-to-peer decision making network for stream delivery.
Advection.NET Adds European Union Distribution Hub
June 1, 2005
With the launch of an additional gigabit streaming distribution hub in Paris, France, Advection.NET further improves high-definition/low latency streaming to its customers’ European viewers.
Advection.NET Upgrades East Coast Streaming Distribution Hub
June 1, 2005
Advection.NET upgrades our Washington DC presence by launching a gigabit streaming distribution hub in Ashburn, VA.
Advection.NET Rolls Out New Dell Blade Servers
March - May 2005
Advection.NET performs a multi-pop upgrade, replacing each cluster of 1U or 2U servers with a fully populated chassis of the latest high density dual Xeon blade servers from Dell. We also add another 6 terabytes of storage to remote hubs.
2004
Advection.NET Delivers 2.5 Million Streams Per Hour
July 26, 2004
During several hours each morning in July, Advection.NET delivered live streams to an audience of 5 million unique players, demonstrating the capacity for 2.5 million streams per hour. If this audience had been 24/7, that works out to a capacity of over a billion streams per month.
Advection.NET Hosts Over 1.25 Million Media Files on its Windows Media 9 Network
June 3, 2004
Advection.NET has more than doubled storage capacity in each of the last three quarters, using its Locus 3s streaming acceleration appliance to manage global content delivery for well over one million media files stored on Locus 5n 6000i storage appliances.
Advection.NET Adds Core Webhosting Hub
March 18, 2004
Advection.NET launches a core web hosting hub in Phoenix, AZ, for clients seeking high redundancy without the cost of bi-coastal data replication. With BGP balanced gigabit connections from UUNet/MCI, Level(3), AT&T, GlobalCrossing, and Sprint operating at a peak utilization of 55% instead of the industry standard 65% - 85%, Advection.NET’s Phoenix POP offers fast clean bandwidth and high reliability for web hosting customers.
Advection.NET Exceeds 3/4 Million Streams a Day in Windows Media 9 Series
February 4, 2004
Advection.NET’s global Windows Media 9 Series network is regularly delivering 3/4 million streams per day, while Advection.NET’s bi-coastal distributed IIS6/ASP.NET web clusters are delivering up to 3 million ASP.NET web page views per day. This is a run-rate of 21 million WM9S streams per month and 80 million page views per month.
Advection.NET Delivers 2 Gbps Sustained for Live Event in Windows Media 9
January 27, 2004
This evening, in addition to regular traffic, Advection.NET delivered an unprecedented number of simultaneous live broadband Windows Media 9 streams for Fox Broadcasting from Advection.NET’s globally distributed all Windows Media 9 Series network. With over 2 gigabits of bandwidth served from data centers in the USA and Europe, Advection.NET again demonstrates the scale, capacity, and expertise to handle even the highest volume Windows Media 9 events.
2003
Advection.NET Delivering 15 Million Live Event Streams per Quarter in Windows Media 9 Series
December 31, 2003
During the past quarter, Advection.NET has delivered over 15 million live event streams, and is reflecting a client-wide Windows Media 9 player penetration of over 77% for all clients and content hosted on the network. Another 15% of clients are Windows Media 8, and 6% for Windows Media 7.1. 70% of viewers are using Windows 98 and 13% are using Windows 2000 or XP. Since Windows Media 9 does not come with Windows 98, this means users are widely downloading the free Windows Media 9 Player.
Advection.NET Delivers for Nine Systems Corporation
October 14, 2003
Nine Systems Corporation today announced additional relationships that significantly enhance its leading rich media services platform, streamOS(TM), including agreements with Advection.NET, Astream,net, Globix, Speedcast, Telstra, and Telus. Leveraging the growing acceptance of streamOS(TM) and its current relationships with leading Content Distribution Networks (CDNs), these new relationships will provide Nine Systems customers with an expanded global footprint, a more robust domestic network and an improved ability to deploy high-quality, high bit-rate rich media content.
Advection.NET Supports Microsoft Producer 2003 for PowerPoint 2003
August 29, 2003
Advection.NET’s fully Windows Media 9 and IIS 6 international distribution network already supports this new product. Microsoft Producer for Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2003 offers you an array of tools that make it easy to create, edit, synchronize, and publish rich-media presentations that can be viewed anytime in a browser. New support for Microsoft Windows Media 9 Series enables you to capture and deliver higher-quality audio and video content. You may experience improvements in quality of up to 20 percent for audio compression and 50 percent for video, optimizing the viewing experience.
Advection.NET Enhances its DRM Offering
May 1, 2003
with the release of Advection.NET’s DRM APIs, content owners can dynamically manage their DRM Licensing Rules and Media Access Rights through a series of secure XML Web Services. Customers who have existing e-commerce or website membership systems can now easily integrate with Advection.NET’s DRM network while making sure every international streaming distribution hub always has up-to-date information about their members’ access permissions.
Entire Advection.NET Network Supports Windows Media 9
January 7, 2003
Advection.NET has been a 100% Windows Media 9 network since September 2002. With Microsoft’s official release at noon on Tuesday, 7 January 2003, Advection.NET customers can count on their users having access to the full release of the WM9 Player, taking advantage of the greatly enhanced streaming experience resulting from the combination of the Windows Media 9 Player and Windows .NET Server’s Windows Media Services 9 Series, such as Fast Start, Fast Cache, Fast Recovery, and Fast Reconnect, as well as server-side playlists, comprehensive advertising types, and auto-generated playlists.
2002
Auragan Upgrades Locus 3s Appliance
September 20, 2002
Auragan, LLC releases a new version of Locus 3s appliance featuring additional options for traffic balancing and global content distribution based on underlying network reliability. Starting with Version 1.3b, Locus 3s has the ability to operate in alternative modes depending on network conditions, by adjusting the selection of feature sets to suit while handing off more advanced features to Locus appliances in remote data centers.
Advection.NET Announces Support for Windows Media 9 Streaming
September 9, 2002
Advection.NET upgrades its Windows Media streaming servers worldwide to Microsoft Windows Media 9 Series. Combined with Windows Media Player 9, Windows Media Services 9 Series can provide an instant-on/always-on playback experience for users on broadband networks and a dramatic improvement in streaming reliability and responsiveness for dial-up users, virtually eliminating annoying buffering delays and interruption when playing digital media content.
“Distribution By Advection” Debuts on Advection.NET
August 12, 2002
Advection.NET enhances its content distribution and streaming capabilities with the deployment of Locus 3s Version 1.2b. Bandwidth requirements for streaming media distribution between data centers are reduced by approximately 75%.
Auragan, LLC Delivers New Media Distribution Method in Locus 3s Appliance
August 10, 2002
Auragan, LLC releases a new version of its Locus 3s Acceleration Appliance. Version 1.2b features “Distribution By Advection” - a new content distribution mechanism that allows any media server that doesn’t have popular media content on the local filesystem to quickly retrieve it from its nearest peers without having to access the central media storage library from a remote location.
Advection.NET Opens European Union Distribution Hub
July 30, 2002
With the launch of an additional streaming distribution hub in Brussels, Belgium, Advection.NET can now provide high-quality, low latency streaming to its customers’ European viewers.
Advection.NET Launches Optimized Streaming Services
June 15, 2002
Advection.NET deploys Locus 3s acceleration appliances in its data centers. The appliances distribute streaming media content to the hubs closest to the end users demanding the streams. Each user’s stream requests get processed based on file availability at a particular location, content popularity patterns, and various streaming server health metrics to deliver the best viewing experience.
Advection.NET Opens North American Streaming Distribution Hubs
June 1, 2002
Advection.NET and Unified Webhosting launch in New York City, Washington, DC., San Jose, and Los Angeles.
Auragan, LLC Forms Advection.NET, Joins with Unified IT Solutions’ Unified Webhosting to Provide Managed Services
May 1, 2002
Auragan, LLC, an Internet optimization appliance developer, moves into managed streaming with the launch of Advection.NET Auragan partners with Unified IT Solutions, which launches Unified Webhosting to provide managed webhosting services. Together, the two companies offer customers a comprehensive range of web and streaming expertise.
Auragan Releases Locus 3s 1.0 Beta
February 1, 2002
The product was designed to facilitate management of streaming media content across a global network, improve streaming quality, and reduce infrastructure costs. Features include intelligent content distribution for multiple file types, server load balancing, and health monitoring.
2001
Auragan Adds Two Software Development Teams
September 1, 2001
Auragan, LLC opens software development offices in Russia and the Ukraine, bringing the combined programming staff to over 30 developers, with skills ranging from web and client-server application development on different platforms to DirectX and OpenGL. Auragan is ramping up its R&D effort on appliances to optimize content distribution, streaming quality, and network operations.
