google.co.uk

[directhex]

Whats that (if you have time to explain) .

they're a massively distributed hosting system, that caches content (from companies that pay for it), to save on bandwidth troubles. apple, for example, run their quicktime movie trailers using akamai - otherwise at 50mb a pop they'd die under the bandwidth costs.

www.akamai.com

(notice that when you ping google.co.uk, you get a reply from www.google.akadns.net, same as if you ping www.google.com, hence the "distributed" part of akamai)

[Rave]

I heard that google actually design their own hardware, they have enough that it's worth their while.

Rich :¬)

[directhex]

the clustering is custom, the nodes are bog standard off the shelf kit - which is part of the point of it, low reliability, low cost, high redundancy

[menthel]

Very interesting, if a little over my head. Its something I use every day and yet never thought how it works. Are there any informative, yet not too techy books on how the internet as a whole works out there?

[Butuz]

Thats a bloody interesting webby hex. Have a gold star on me!

Butuz

[turkster]

they're a massively distributed hosting system, that caches content (from companies that pay for it), to save on bandwidth troubles. apple, for example, run their quicktime movie trailers using akamai - otherwise at 50mb a pop they'd die under the bandwidth costs.

www.akamai.com

(notice that when you ping google.co.uk, you get a reply from www.google.akadns.net, same as if you ping www.google.com, hence the "distributed" part of akamai)

Interesting . But isnt that the same as web proxy caching? Ie it isnt strictly associated with Akamai?

[directhex]

Interesting . But isnt that the same as web proxy caching? Ie it isnt strictly associated with Akamai?

akadns addresses are akamai.

and that's essentially what akamai is, an enormous global transparent web proxy, for websites who pay for the privilege.