Transparent Cache

The Verivue Transparent Cache caches and delivers popular Over-the-Top (OTT) content, thereby reducing the amount of transit traffic that traverses the operator's Internet peering point, as well as the volume of internal traffic that is transmitted over the operator's network links. Transparent Cache leverages the same HyperCache-based caching substrate that might be deployed for other purposes, augmented with request interception logic. Transparent Cache intercepts requests in concert with the operator's existing router/switch infrastructure using either the Web Cache Communication Protocol (WCCP) or Policy Based Routing (PBR). Its key features and benefits include:

Targeted Control

Rather than operate as a promiscuous transparent cache, which has historically resulted in unpredictable behavior, Transparent Cache gives operators the ability to specifically target (white-list) the traffic they wish to transparently cache. This allows operators to cache the most popular content that is imposing the heaviest load on their network, without having to worry about all the corner cases involved in delivering every single web page in the world. Non-targeted requests are passed through to the appropriate origin web server.

Widely Distributed Caches

Transparent Cache is designed to leverage a standard HyperCache-based caching hierarchy, meaning popular OTT content can be cached near the edges of the network. Transparent Cache is not limited to caching only at Internet peering points where requests are intercepted. This means the operator is able to optimize content delivery across its entire network, not just reduce the load on transit links.

Flexible and Scalable Networking Configurations

Transparent Cache works together with standard HyperCache clusters, the former providing traffic interception and the latter providing caching and content delivery. Such a decoupling, in contrast to competing solutions, allows Transparent Cache and HyperCache clusters to scale out independently. Moreover, it allows operators to deploy HyperCaches collocated on the same machines as Transparent Cache, or alternatively in remote sites, as needed. In large scale networks, this allows for caching sites to be closer to the end user, and intercepting sites to be relatively centralized thereby easing networking configurations and manageability.

Future-Proof Investment

By effectively caching and delivering OTT content, operators have an opportunity to demonstrate value to OTT content providers by delivering a better end-user experience, which in turn has the potential to lead to new business agreements between operators and providers. Because Transparent Cache leverages the same underlying caching infrastructure as other content distribution applications (e.g., a multi-tenant CDN), there is no risk an investment in transparent caching will be wasted should a strong revenue-generating CDN market emerge. In fact, Transparent Cache allows an operator to seamlessly migrate to multi-tenant CDN offerings such as local CDN termination for global CDN operators, and revenue-generating CDN services directly targeted to content providers.