Web Publishing Distribution Service Launches

Sandpiper Networks, Inc., a provider of adaptive content distribution services, recently launched Footprint, a distribution
outsourcing service designed to deal with capacity scaling and delivery response time
problems for Web publishers.

Available on a subscription basis, Footprint is made to let publishers share access to Sandpiper’s global network of custom Web servers. As a result, the company stated that Footprint “minimizes the content distribution challenges associated with media-rich Web sites and ensures consistent, high levels of performance even under extreme traffic conditions.”

Footprint’s network is made up of “Content Distributors” Web servers and “Content Migrator” software.
The migrator is intended to intercept inbound requests and determine where to serve the requested information. Using content routing tables, it redirects users to the optimal Content Distributor that maintains and delivers fresh copies of the requested Web content, Sandpiper said.

Footprint migrates Web content to Sandpiper’s network, without imposing additional infrastructure and
administrative costs, and it is designed to adapt to changes in network
conditions, content popularity and user demand so that publisher resources
are available wherever and whenever they’re needed.

The Footprint service is currently being beta-tested by companies including NBC Interactive, E! Online, Exodus Communications, Inc., Packard Bell NEC, Internet Travel Network, Netopia, and the Los
Angeles Times.