Apple Edge Cache

Those traffic requirements are fairly steep - perhaps it will come down as the program matures.<p>If you&#x27;re interested in similar edge cache programs:<p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;openconnect.netflix.com&#x2F;en&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;openconnect.netflix.com&#x2F;en&#x2F;</a><p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.facebook.com&#x2F;peering&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.facebook.com&#x2F;peering&#x2F;</a> (though I don&#x27;t see FNA specifically mentioned there)<p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;peering.google.com&#x2F;#&#x2F;options&#x2F;google-global-cache" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;peering.google.com&#x2F;#&#x2F;options&#x2F;google-global-cache</a><p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.akamai.com&#x2F;us&#x2F;en&#x2F;products&#x2F;network-operator&#x2F;akamai-network-partnerships.jsp" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.akamai.com&#x2F;us&#x2F;en&#x2F;products&#x2F;network-operator&#x2F;akama...</a><p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;peering.azurewebsites.net&#x2F;peering&#x2F;Caching" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;peering.azurewebsites.net&#x2F;peering&#x2F;Caching</a><p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.cloudflare.com&#x2F;partners&#x2F;peering-portal&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.cloudflare.com&#x2F;partners&#x2F;peering-portal&#x2F;</a>

The home&#x2F;small business version of this is included with every installation of OS X: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;support.apple.com&#x2F;guide&#x2F;mac-help&#x2F;what-is-content-caching-on-mac-mchl9388ba1b&#x2F;mac" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;support.apple.com&#x2F;guide&#x2F;mac-help&#x2F;what-is-content-cac...</a><p>Popular app and OS updates can be cached on a local Mac, with the recommended machine being on the network using a wired connection and always connected (desktop&#x2F;Mac mini)

This seems smart. Presumably it initially gives everyone a better experience with App Store apps, and over time becomes critical infrastructure for Apple TV+ in the same way Netflix use caches in ISPs.

Dumb question -- how does this work with SSL? Is Apple putting their private keys on these boxes and assuming the ISPs can&#x27;t&#x2F;won&#x27;t extract them?

I hope this isn’t the same CDN they use for the App Store.<p>I’ve never seen a download from the store faster than about 50 megabits per sec even on a gigabit line.

And the question is... Do this &quot;Apple certified server-side network appliances&quot; run on Mac or Linux?

With 25Gbps minimum peak, it seems like this is targeted at game apps (which load heavy assets) or short videos apps (which load 10-20MB video assets). If they have streaming capability, then probably more apps can take advantage of it.<p>For all other apps (which load static image assets and much smaller dynamic response payloads), meeting 25Gbps minimum peak is going to be a challenge.<p>Let&#x27;s do some rough math. Let&#x27;s say your app needs to load 10MB of assets in every user session. Let&#x27;s say your user&#x27;s network speed is not a constraint. Then least number of concurrent users needed to drive 25Gbps of traffic is 25Gbps&#x2F;10MB = 313 new user sessions per second. If you want to sustain this for 5 minutes or so to register as peak 313 users&#x2F;second * 5 minutes = 93900 concurrent apple user sessions. Let&#x27;s say your users realistically have 10Mbps of speed, we will have to multiply 93900 with 8 (because it takes 8 seconds to load 10MB with 10Mbps speed)!

Off topic... but there are .apple domains now?

This launched around December of 2019. It is the same service that companies like Google[1] and Akamai[2] have provided for a while.<p>[1]: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;peering.google.com&#x2F;#&#x2F;options&#x2F;google-global-cache" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;peering.google.com&#x2F;#&#x2F;options&#x2F;google-global-cache</a><p>[2]: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.akamai.com&#x2F;us&#x2F;en&#x2F;products&#x2F;network-operator&#x2F;akamai-network-partnerships.jsp" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.akamai.com&#x2F;us&#x2F;en&#x2F;products&#x2F;network-operator&#x2F;akama...</a>

&gt; The program is by invitation only.<p>&gt; If your business meets these requirements, request an invitation.<p>Doesn&#x27;t that defeat the purpose of being &quot;invitation only&quot; which, to me at least, implies the other party knows who they want to invite? That is, invitation only implies hand picked, or pre-chosen by some prior criteria to me. If it&#x27;s exclusive to select ISPs that meet the criteria and they have to apply, why not just say that instead of the using wording that requires additional explanation to get past people&#x27;s likely initial interpretation?

Questions.<p>Why now? Apple has had hundred of Millions iOS users for years and fast approaching a billion. Why didn&#x27;t they do this earlier? Or they did but it wasn&#x27;t public ?<p>What are the chances this is a Mac Pro rack, even though it is highly unlikely to be running on macOS ?<p>Do they Cache iCloud Backup, Photos and upload with these Edge Appliance? Same as macOS Server?

This is for large consumer ISPs, obviously, but Mac OS X Server used to have an optional cache feature for iOS apps and OS X software updates that was relevant for enterprise and campus networks (or even a home network like mine with a 3:1 iDevice to human ratio...)

I am absolutely not informed on the dynamics of these technologies and business agreements so pardon my ignorance.<p>Q: are you getting paid for allocating such a cache? Or should you feel honoured that Apple thinks you are eligible to freely distribute their content?

Are Apple credible to offer this? The AppStore loads slowly if at all a lot of the time on my Mac. And isn’t exactly spritely on my phone either.

It would be cool if they used the Xserve chassis.

Doesn&#x27;t it break net neutrality ?

Step X of competing with aws, gcp, azure. Arm cpus Serverside swift Foundationdb They’re spending way too much on aws for iCloud, and probably i* distribution

Do they get paid to host this? How much?

Nice to see them use the .apple TLD.

EdgeCompute coming soon I suppose.

I&#x27;m confused why ISPs would do this for free. Why doesn&#x27;t Apple just colo like other CDNs do?

is this the tiered internet we were warned about?

<i>Apple Edge Cache (AEC) is Apple supplied and managed hardware</i><p>Do they have something against using dashes?

And they use AWS for that, at least in Europe. Had a huge orders from them in last few months

Copyright © 2019 Apple Inc.

&quot;Apple Edge Cache (AEC) is Apple supplied and managed hardware for deployment within our ISP partners networks to deliver certain Apple content directly to our shared customers.&quot;<p>This sounds horrifying.