Akamai

Akamai: An Overview

Akamai Technologies, Inc. is a global content delivery network (CDN), cybersecurity, and cloud service provider. Founded in 1998 by Tom Leighton and Daniel Lewin, Akamai is headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA. Akamai is one of the oldest and largest CDN providers in the world, known for its extensive network and robust security offerings. Over the years, Akamai has raised significant funding and made several strategic acquisitions to expand its capabilities and market reach.

Features

Comparison with Top CDN Providers

Notable Outages and Events

• July 2021: Akamai experienced a DNS-related outage that affected multiple major websites, including Amazon, Airbnb, and PlayStation Network. The issue was resolved within an hour and highlighted the importance of DNS reliability.
• June 2022: Akamai suffered an outage due to a configuration update, causing downtime for several customers. The incident led to improvements in Akamai’s update deployment processes.

Notable Customers

• Adobe
• Apple
• Microsoft
• Sony
• IBM
• Reddit
• BBC
• LinkedIn

Technology

Akamai uses a vast network of PoPs to deliver content efficiently and securely to users worldwide. The company leverages advanced security measures, including a robust Web Application Firewall (WAF) and comprehensive DDoS protection. Akamai supports modern protocols like HTTP/2 and HTTP/3 and provides extensive real-time analytics to help businesses monitor and optimize their content delivery. With a strong focus on edge computing and developer-friendly tools, Akamai continues to innovate in the CDN space.

Contributions to Open Source

Akamai actively supports the open-source community and contributes to various projects. Some notable open-source projects and contributions by Akamai include:

• Terraform Provider for Akamai: An open-source Terraform provider for managing Akamai services.
• Akamai CLI: A command-line interface for interacting with Akamai’s platform.
• Boilerplate: A boilerplate code repository for Akamai EdgeWorkers, helping developers get started with edge computing.

Pricing

Akamai’s pricing model is typically customized based on the specific needs and scale of the customer. Below is a general overview of potential pricing components:

For detailed and tailored pricing, businesses are encouraged to visit the Akamai pricing page or contact Akamai directly for a customized quote based on their specific needs.