Specifications

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Cisco Internet Streamer CDS 2.0-2.3 Software Configuration Guide
OL-13493-04
Chapter 1 Product Overview
Overview
Ingest and Distribution
The Service Engine designated as the Content Acquirer for a delivery service is the ingest device. Cisco
Internet Streamer CDS Releases 2.0–2.3 supports the following methods of content ingest:
• Prefetch ingest
• Dynamic ingest
• Hybrid ingest
• Live stream ingest and split
The distribution of content within the CDS is determined by the method of ingest used.
Note The recommended maximum number of prefetched content items is 200,000.
Prefetch Ingest
The Content Acquirer receives metadata from the backoffice in the form of an XML-formatted Manifest
file and, using the information in the file, pulls the content into storage on the Content Acquirer. The
content can be ingested by using different protocols. The supported protocols are FTP, HTTP, HTTPS,
CIFS, as well as local files, which are files copied to the Service Engine. The ingested content is then
distributed to all Service Engines in the content delivery service. The content is stored on each Service
Engine’s hard disk for a configurable amount of time or until the content entry gets deleted from the
Manifest file. This is called content pinning.
The Manifest file can be used to specify different policies for content ingest and also for streaming the
prefetched content. For example, the policy could include specifying the expiry of the content, setting
time windows in which the content is made available to users, and so on.
Dynamic Ingest
Content can be dynamically ingested into the CDS. Dynamic ingest is triggered when a Service Engine’s
Internet Streamer application does not find a client’s requested content in its local hard disk storage. All
Service Engines participating in the content delivery service coordinate to form a content distribution
tunnel starting at the origin server and ending at the Service Engine responding to the client request. As
the content flows through this tunnel, the participating Service Engines cache a copy of the content.
Subsequent requests for the same content are served off the CDS network. Content ingested and
distributed by this method is deleted if clients do not request it frequently.
The Internet Streaming CDSM manages this ingest method internally, not by instructions embedded in
a Manifest file, and manages the storage automatically. The Internet Streaming CDSM also provides the
ability to purge any dynamically ingested content out of the Service Engines. Content is identified by a
URL, which is also used to delete the content.
Hybrid Ingest
The hybrid ingest method provides a very powerful solution by combining the features of the prefetch
ingest and the dynamic ingest methods. The metadata and control information about the content, defined
in the Manifest file, is propagated and pinned to all Service Engines participating in the content delivery
service. However, the content is not prefetched. Ingest occurs upon user request for the content. Content