Creating a 'Cloud Storage' mashup for high performance, low cost content delivery

Abstract

Many 'Cloud Storage' providers have launched in the last two years, providing internet accessible data storage and delivery in several continents that is backed by rigourous Service Level Agreements (SLAs), guaranteeing specific performance and uptime targets. The facilities offered by these providers is leveraged by developers via provider-specific Web Service APIs. For content creators, these providers have emerged as a genuine alternative to dedicated Content Delivery Networks (CDNs) for global file storage and delivery, as they are significantly cheaper, have comparable performance and no ongoing contract obligations. As a result, the idea of utilising Storage Clouds as a 'poor mans' CDN..