HIGHWINDS CDNOVERVIEW

Content Delivery Network Solutions

Table of Contents

Part 1: Company .....................................................................................................................................................................

Overview ............................................................................................................................................................................

Global Delivery and Scale ................................................................................................................................................

Part 2: Network Technology ................................................................................................................................................

DFS Server .........................................................................................................................................................................

Doppler Global Traffic Management System ................................................................................................................

RollingThunder® Network Map .......................................................................................................................................

Part 3: Products ......................................................................................................................................................................

HTTP Caching ....................................................................................................................................................................

Highwinds Cloud StorageTM .............................................................................................................................................

Full Site Acceleration ........................................................................................................................................................

SelectPathTM Load Balancing ...........................................................................................................................................

Part 4: Console ........................................................................................................................................................................

Advanced Analytics ..........................................................................................................................................................

Accounts, Content, and Policy Management ................................................................................................................

Part 5: API ................................................................................................................................................................................

Easy-to-Use API .................................................................................................................................................................

Part 6: Support ........................................................................................................................................................................

24x7x365 Relentless Customer Support .......................................................................................................................

Part 7: Trusted ........................................................................................................................................................................

Part 8: Free Trial .....................................................................................................................................................................

Test the CDN Today ..........................................................................................................................................................

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Part 1: Company

OVERVIEW

Highwinds®, a StackPath company, is a privately held, profitable, patent-holding, multi-platform IP services company.

Highwinds’ content delivery network (CDN) and cloud-based IP services have powered thousands of websites and

applications around the world since 2002.

The comprehensive suite of CDN and network services solutions, including delivery, cloud storage, IP transit, colocation,

and IP software, ensure end-users experience the instant gratification they’ve grown to expect when streaming video or

downloading media, games, advertisements, and software.

Highwinds offers the high-powered RollingThunder® network for global reach and scale along with the award-winning

StrikeTracker® console and open APIs for real-time provisioning and control.

StackPath is headquartered in Dallas, Texas and maintains offices and data centers around the world.

Highwinds owns and maintains several custom in-house software products used in the CDN delivery platform.

By designing from the ground-up for optimization, Highwinds offers a significant delivery and automation advantage

that customers and end-users experience first-hand. Pull back the covers on Highwinds CDN, and every product used is

internally designed to address the specific challenges of CDN delivery trends seen today. The result is a truly unique and

revolutionary approach to CDN that provides customers with high quality next generation delivery services.

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The RollingThunder network is designed to efficiently deliver content through traffic spikes and

ever-changing network conditions. Every point in the network is fully redundant and fault-tolerant, with several diverse

paths and multiple rings. The network’s multiple points of presence are built for moving content at lightning-fast speeds

from point to point through any network conditions.

On Highwinds, every end-user receives the performance they expect and customers have access to

all the delivery resources they need.

GLOBAL DELIVERY AND SCALE

The backbone of the Highwinds CDN infrastructure, was purpose-built in 2007 for a modern, high-change, media object

hosting environment. The network includes points of presence (PoPs) in North America, South America, Europe, Asia,

and Oceania (Australia), and offers massive capacity to the Internet. Each data center houses hundreds of delivery

servers and is connected to the other facilities with multiple, dedicated 10GigE backbones. Each PoP houses solid state

drives (SSDs) to guarantee the highest quality of service.

The RollingThunder Network taps

into the extensive networks of

dozens major telcos and is

a service provider to more

than 200 ISPs.

RollingThunder boasts more

than 5,000 peering sessions with

more than 800 unique peers,

handing off traffic directly to

last-mile networks.

The total visible ASNs is greater

than 55,000. The result of having

fewer hops and faster throughput

is a flawless, high-quality

viewing experience.

On Highwinds, traffic is handed off directly to the last mile provider approximately 95% of the time in Europe and

85% of the time in the United States. By operating a backbone and offering so many peer routes, Highwinds is able to

control the content delivery path from the CDN servers directly to the last mile.

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DFS SERVER

DFS Server, the Highwinds distributed file system, is software that powers the high-speed

RollingThunder network by managing the storage and distribution of millions of files on

multiple POPs. Developed over many years, DFS Server provides rapid provisioning to the edge

(the ability to instantaneously replicate files at different CDN nodes) ensuring high-speed replication

with proven scalability. It also automatically monitors the popularity of content to anticipate and

accommodate increases in demand for any particular piece of content. As requests per second

increase, more servers are automatically made available to handle the increased demand.

DOPPLER GLOBAL TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

The Doppler Global Traffic Management System allows Highwinds to guarantee the best user experience by delivering all

types of content through the fastest and most efficient servers.

Armed with a whole-network view, it optimizes local content routing by finding the best server for an end-user

request, taking geographic location, network traffic, and QoS controls into consideration.

A request typically goes to the data center that is closest to the end-user device making

the request.

When traffic congestion or outages on a portion of the network threaten to slow delivery, the request

is automatically re-routed to the server that can deliver the content fastest.

Doppler Global Traffic Management System makes local routing decisions in real time, and it is constantly

evaluating different servers and choosing the fastest option.

Part 2: Network Technology

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ROLLINGTHUNDER NETWORK MAP

NORTH AMERICA

Atlanta (2), Chicago (3), Dallas (2), Ashburn (2), Los Angeles (2), Miami,

New York (2),Newark, Phoenix, San Jose (2), and Seattle

SOUTH AMERICA

Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo (4)

EUROPE

Amsterdam (2), Brussels, Frankfurt (2), London (2),

Madrid, Paris, and Stockholm

ASIA

Manila, Seoul, Singapore, and Tokyo

OCEANIA (AUSTRALIA)

Sydney

IN PROGRESS

Milan, Sterling, Hong Kong, Melbourne, Toronto, and Warsaw

• POINT OF PRESENCE

• IN PROGRESS

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HTTP CACHING

HTTP Caching is a high-performance cloud of globally distributed servers, operating in clusters, strategically

positioned at key Internet data exchange points around the world. The Highwinds name for this platform is CDS

(Content Delivery Service). The purpose of this cloud is to amplify the capacity and performance of customers’ origin

servers, which are typically traditional HTTP web servers running in a data center. Highwinds Cloud Storage, other

CDNs, or other storage clouds can also be used as origins.

Part 3: Products

The CDN amplifies the capacity of the origins by performing a process known as proxy and cache, whereby

requests made to the CDN are forwarded (proxied) to the origin server and the result is then stored (cached)

on one or more CDN edge servers.

The cached copies are then used for subsequent requests made to the CDN, without the need to pass the request

back to the origin server. Content on the CDN will eventually expire, causing the CDN to retrieve an updated copy as

needed. In this manner, the load on an origin server can remain low, while the CDN serves the vast majority of traffic.

As traffic ramps, additional requests back to the origin server are not required (so long as the content has

not expired) – if additional edge servers are needed to take on increased load, the edge servers are able to

communicate between themselves to produce additional copies of the content.

Highwinds’ origin policy caching rules are configurable, and with

Highwinds’ high level of internal visibility it is not unusual for a file

to be requested from the origin only once and the CDN to serve

that asset millions of times before it expires. In addition to capacity

offloading, by positioning caches closer to the end-users that are

consuming the content, the cache can provide significantly superior

performance over a centrally located customer origin server with

limited resources. By bringing to bear a far greater amount of

server capacity than any individual customer could afford (or want

to operate), the CDN also permits customers to optimize costs by

only paying for what capacity is used in any given month. Highwinds

CDN is an efficient alternative to maintaining a large amount of

infrastructure that can be idle for much of the time and overloaded

during high traffic periods.

The CDS platform is designed to support delivery of objects of all sizes, ranging from very small objects typically used to

support websites, up to very large objects such as video game clients or other types of software downloads. Video can also

be delivered via this platform using HTTP progressive download or pseudostreaming methods (where jump-to-byte player

functionality mimics streaming behavior).

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MID-TIER CACHE

The most effective way to deliver content is to replicate it and store it on the edge servers closest

to your customers. However, keeping all content on the edge isn’t always efficient. Using Mid-Tier

Cache, the customer creates rules to determine when to shield their origin from new requests while

maintaining performance.

If some content does not get requested in certain regions, rather than expiring it off the cache altogether, it can be

preserved at the mid-tier to be reactivated on-demand, over our optimized network. Additionally, customers work with

our solutions engineers to find the PoPs most effective for the mid-tier, based on origin locations. Highwinds supports

customers in creating an optimal business strategy based on the customer’s unique traffic and audience profiles.

In addition to the performance benefits of using Mid-Tier Cache, customers also gain efficiency at their origin. By protecting

the origin server from redundant and unnecessary requests, pressure is relieved on the customer’s infrastructure.

SCRIPT ENGINE

Highwinds developed Script Engine to rapidly deploy unique features for our CDN customers. As a

team that believes strongly in collaborating with our delivery partners, Script Engine has enabled

our consultative approach to content delivery.

Script Engine modifies the default interactions between end users, the CDN edges, and the customer origin. It interprets the

PHP to interact and change the metadata surrounding file delivery. Examples include custom header implementation, device

detection, path ramification, cookie interaction, and more. Whether a customer has an existing workflow and requirements

to work with, or they want to try something new, Script Engine allows us to truly customize each implementation of the CDN.

SSL & SECURE DELIVERY

Highwinds CDN enforces delivery business rules to enable the monetization strategy chosen by the

content owner. With our secure delivery and content protection products, end users can only access

content based on the workflow the customer has put into place.

HTTPS offers the same feature-rich delivery capabilities as standard HTTP with the addition of encrypted communication

and secure identification of the CDN caching platform, resulting in protection of the content being served. Highwinds’

entire footprint is SSL capable, allowing for SNI (Server Name Indication) support. This means customers can genuinely

secure the traffic of their own domains in a cost effective manner and without having to rely on a shared certificate.

Additional content protection features include:

• URL Signing – publish content with a token that includes an optional time-to-live (TTL).

• HTTP Referrer Restriction – prevent CDN publishing URLs from being freely distributed on unauthorized

websites (also known as hot linking or deep linking).

• Geoblocking – restrict content to end users in specified locations based on ASN, continent, country, region,

city, postal code, area code, and DMA (US metro code).

• HTTP Basic Authentication – end users are prompted to enter login credentials that are approved by the

customer’s web server before the media is delivered.

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HIGHWINDS CLOUD STORAGE™

The CDS delivery service operates in a pull-based model where all requests made to CDN edge servers are serviced

from the local cache if a copy of the requested asset already exists, or proxied back to the customer’s origin if a local

copy is unavailable (this copy is then cached for servicing subsequent requests). For customers that wish to push content

to the CDN via a range of upload options (HTTP, FTP, RSYNC, etc.), Highwinds offers a modern bulk-storage platform

called Highwinds Cloud Storage™ (HCS™) that can be used as a replacement for customer-managed origin server.

HCS consists of a cloud of globally distributed storage nodes that automatically replicate content to ensure maximum

availability and durability. The system provides an open API that facilitates the unified management of files globally.

Effectively, the storage platform fills the role of the customer’s origin, and will route requests for content from the CDN

edge servers to the correct storage nodes when content is requested. In this manner customers can upload content to

Highwinds directly, and the CDN will automatically move content in and out of the cache based on traffic needs. This

process is completely invisible to the customer.

After account creation, customers are able to self-provision storage buckets, and can immediately start uploading content.

Through the StrikeTracker console, customers can quickly “bind” internal origins to the CDS delivery platform. In this

manner, a single origin server can be used to support multiple independently configured CDN hosts.

The Highwinds cloud storage platform boasts significant features such as:

Unlimited linear scaling into the multiple-Petabyte range • Public cloud storage compatible APIs

FTP access • High-speed ingest automatic geo-diverse 3-copy replication

High availability & high durability guarantees • CDN integration

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FULL SITE ACCELERATION

Full Site Acceleration is an advanced service used to deliver entire websites and applications. Videos, images, audio

files, and downloads are cached and delivered via the CDN. Dynamic content is delivered by creating a persistent

connection across Highwinds’ backbone between the end-user customer and the origin.

Script Engine Website Communications

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1. Secure Delivery - Secure and monetize your content using SSL and deliver it using HTTPS across our entire network.

Manage your certificates in real-time via API or UI and deliver them via SNI or dedicated VIP.

2. Website Skin - Components of your website including the CSS, JavaScript frameworks, and UI element images are

extremely cacheable. These items will be delivered from the global CDN edge footprint via HTTP Caching.

3. Video & Images - Media that is viewed frequently will live on the CDN edges. Large files are delivered via HTTP Caching,

and additional services such as multi-bitrate streaming can be applied to improve video performance.

4. Personalized Content - Dynamic content is generated for each individual user and is not cacheable. This content is

delivered efficiently because persistent connections are established across our private backbone between the end user,

the CDN, and your origin.

5. Longtail Video - Videos that are viewed less frequently are considered longtail. The Mid-Tier Cache is used to keep content

on our backbone and protect your origin even when it isn’t requested frequently enough to be stored on the CDN edge.

6. Short-Lived Static Content - Content that is cacheable but has a short time-to-live such as news stories and trending

topics are designed to be swapped out regularly. Using Instant Purge, you can replace expiring content with new assets

within microseconds across the entire global CDN footprint.

7. Script Engine - Distinguish between cacheable and non-cacheable content. Apply business logic to customize content

delivery, protect your origin, and improve performance of all types of content.

8. Website Communications - Persistent connections to the origin allow you to route API calls across our backbone.

FSA improves performance for both the front-end and back-end of your site, keeping every click, play, and request snappy.

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SELECTPATH™ LOAD BALANCING

SelectPath is a platform used to manage multiple CDNs without requiring customers to implement any additional

technologies. As an organization’s CDN needs to grow and expand, technical teams may find a need for greater

capacity and route diversity than any one CDN can provide. To address these issues, a multi-CDN strategy is introduced,

whereby the resources of several CDNs are combined and a load distribution methodology is used to send portions

of site traffic to each CDN. This approach can be used to improve performance in some regions, lower costs in others,

and provide some measure of fail-over redundancy for critical delivery services. The problem often faced is that the

technical management of a multi-CDN environment can be a significant undertaking and if done improperly it can

largely negate the desired benefits.

The SelectPath platform is provided in partnership with Cedexis, Inc., a company that specializes in real-time traffic

monitoring and customer-scriptable real-time dynamic load balancing. With their emphasis on real-time capabilities and

through the strength of their technology, Cedexis is a key Highwinds ecosystem partner and is an ideal fit for any approach

to CDN services.

SelectPath includes two distinct services:

• Real-Time Traffic Monitoring Service – designed specifically to collect performance data across multiple

CDNs (and optionally, other HTTP platforms, including customer origin servers). This data is then injected into the

second service (load balancer).

• Load Balancer – where traffic shaping decisions are performed.

The load balancer is a highly-optimized script execution environment which operates within custom DNS servers. DNS

(Domain Name System) is what translates a human-usable hostname like www.highwinds.com into a machine-usable

IP address. By manipulating the IP address responses given to specific users based upon the current performance of

individual CDNs (in relation to the network path that the end-user takes to reach that CDN), SelectPath can send each end-user

to the best CDN for servicing their specific request. This decision making is informed by the real-time stats, and governed

by the customizable scripts that operate within the DNS servers.

A key benefit of this approach is that the performance monitoring service can be configured in advance of the load

balancing service, which allows us to provide projected performance gains, before any traffic is actually moved off the

existing configuration. In this way customers are able to determine the value of the service before committing to the

added cost of load balancing.

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Part 4: Console

ADVANCED ANALYTICS

Highwinds’ next-generation analytics platform provides detailed data points about delivered content. StrikeTracker is built

entirely on top of Highwinds’ RESTful API, which means that anything you can do within the UI is also something you can

do from the command line, or within your own automated workflow.

The Highwinds CDN is designed with the ability for customers to segment data in a business-meaningful way. Customers

define the granularity of their reports from per-domain or per-CDN protocol reporting to full global metrics. With the

StrikeTracker portal, both the operations teams and the executive management teams have access to the numbers they

need. The Highwinds reporting retention policy ensures data is available for year after year comparison.

Multiple online reports are available via the StrikeTracker console, each of which draws from aggregate, per-file, and

per-geo data streams, and provides multiple key metrics, including the following:

• Total bandwidth, GB transferred

• Bandwidth 95/5 Mbps or AGTR

• Origin transfer

• Cache hit/miss ratio percentage

• Transfer miss ratio

• Request miss ratio

• Completion ratio percentage

• Total delivery by data center

• Total requests by data center

• Traffic analyzer

(comparing charts, interval time period, detailed data, exporting data, monthly report generation, filter timeframe,

segments, traffic segments, regional filters, chart types, HTTP charts, HTTPS charts, origin shield charts, HTTP ingest

charts, and cache performance charts)

• Total number of requests

• Average end-user transfer rate

• Origin request rate (RPS)

• Hits per second

• End–user transfer

• User throughput

• Completion ratio

• Analytics reports (sorting, filters, metrics)

• Top hosts

In addition to the online reports available within

StrikeTracker, customers can process their own raw log

data, including granular details for each CDN request,

by pulling logs via FTP or API. The HTTP API provides

enhanced capabilities for accessing and retrieving raw

logs. This API is especially useful for customers with very

large numbers of log files, as well as those who wish to

poll the system for new log files.

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ACCOUNTS, CONTENT, AND POLICY MANAGEMENT

The StrikeTracker command and control console includes

numerous features for simplified account management. Each

account can be structured to fit the customers’ organization

with data segmented in a business-meaningful way for

reporting and configuration purposes. To create partitions

by reporting and configuration, use an independently

configured cache (called a host) and add one or more branded

URLs (known as virtual hostnames), content protection

policies, retention policies, compression policies and geo-

blocking policies. Segment management responsibilities by

placing hosts within one or more accounts or sub-accounts,

where logged-in users see only the data relevant for their job

role. The master account holder sees and has configuration

rights to the full CDS platform for all hosts and accounts,

while data is organized in the ideal way for both the technical

and business teams.

Once the new CDN deployment is structured as desired, configuration of all features is completely self-service via

Highwinds’ StrikeTracker CDN management console. Any time a change is made in the console all changes take effect

in real time. When a file is purged or renamed, the change is near instantaneous with global updates complete in

2-10 seconds.

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EASY-TO-USE API

StrikeTracker is built entirely on top of Highwinds’ RESTful API, which means that any action that can be done within the UI

can also be accomplished from the command line, or within the users’ own automated workflow. Due to the development

process behind Highwinds APIs, their structure is self-documenting. The API is fully exposed and detailed explanations are

available in the Highwinds Support Portal.

Part 5: API

Highwinds has exposed an unprecedented level of control to the JSON-formatted, consistent, RESTful programming

interfaces and constructed the full site with those interfaces.

The underlying API drives every graph, configuration, and user action. Users who wish to white-label the portal,

automate workflows, or mash up StrikeTracker analytics data with their other systems, are able to do all that and

much more.

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24X7X365 RELENTLESS CUSTOMER SUPPORT

For technical support, Highwinds has a 24x7x365 Network Operations Team who monitors the network and answers

customer inquiries (phone or email). All team members are Highwinds employees. Customer support is never outsourced.

All customer inquiries are responded to within 10 minutes or less.

The NOC has escalation paths that include reaching out to a Tier 2 or Tier 3 engineer; and these engineers rotate a

24x7x365 on-call schedule. All customer inquiries are tracked within the Highwinds support ticketing system.

In addition to the Network Operations Center, a Solutions Engineering Team is available to help with support requests

within their specialty. They are also able to perform onboarding tasks, help set-up origins, and do training.

Part 6: Support

StackPath Customer Support is available 24x7x365 by calling +1.877.629.2361 or via email at

support@stackpath.com. All requests for support go directly to the NOC.

Customers may also review in-depth technical information available via the

Highwinds Customer Support Portal that can be found at support.highwinds.com,

and view the current status of the global network at status.highwinds.com.

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Thank you for reading the Highwinds story. Please do not hesitate to respond with any questions or requests for

additional information.

For more about Highwinds, please visit www.highwinds.com. In-depth technical information is available via the

Highwinds Customer Support Portal found at support.highwinds.com.

Learn more about Highwinds’ technologies, partners, staff, and corporate initiatives by reading the blog, found at

www.highwinds.com/cdn-blog. You can review customer stories, Q&As, and testimonials at www.highwinds.com/customers.

For reference, here is a selection of Highwinds’ customers.

Part 7: Trusted

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TEST THE CDN TODAY

Highwinds encourages new customers to try the CDN for themselves by taking advantage of the free trial offer. Not only

will you have full access to the StrikeTracker console, you can also deliver your traffic using the CDN and see for yourself

the performance that has made Highwinds a leader in the industry.

Part 8: Free Trial

www.highwinds.com/sign-up/cdn