Creating Content Delivery Networks

</item-group>
 

alternateUrl (optional)

The alternateUrl attribute names a location that will be displayed in the place of the content item if the (source) location is invalid. For example, the alternateUrl tag might point to an HTML-format help page.

cdnPrefix (optional)

The cdnPrefix attribute names a directory or partial path that is placed in the published request URL immediately before the value named by the item's cdn-url attribute.

noRedirectToOrigin (optional)

When set to false, the noRedirectToOrigin attribute allows the CDN to redirect requests to serve grouped content items to the origin server if they cannot be found at the location specified by the attribute.

When set to true, this attribute prevents the CDN from redirecting requests for grouped content items to the origin server if they cannot be found in the hosted domain cache.

playserver (optional)

The playserver attribute names the server that will be used to play the grouped content items. When specified for grouped content items, this value overrides any content mapping in the <playServerTable> area. See the "<playServer></playServer>" section for supported playserver designations.

RealServer and Windows Media Services are the only supported platforms for delivering live content. When the type is live, the playserver must be either real or wmt.

serve (optional)

The serve attribute specifies the date and time after which the content item can be requested from the Content Engine in yyyy-mm-dd hh:mm:ss format. The default time zone is GMT unless otherwise specified using the <options> tag.

server (optional)

The server attribute identifies the server from which the grouped content items will be fetched. The name specified must match the server name in the <server> tag. If omitted, the origin server from the hosted domain is assumed to be the server.

Prefix (optional)

The Prefix attribute names a directory or partial path that is used to build a directory structure for the items in the content item group. The value specified by the srcPrefix attribute is placed in the published request URL immediately before the item's src attribute.

ttl (optional)

The ttl attribute identifies the period, in minutes, for which the grouped content item should be controlled for changes before release. The default value is 30 minutes.

type (optional)

The type attribute indicates how each grouped content item should be handled. Two options are supported:

• prepos—Content should be pre-positioned on the hosted domain. This is the default value, which is applied in the event that no type is specified.
  
  
• live—Content is a live broadcast and cannot be pre-positioned.
  
  

Sample Manifest File

Example 2-10 shows a functional manifest file. Use this example as a model when creating or troubleshooting your own manifest files.

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<!DOCTYPE CdnManifest SYSTEM "CdnManifest.dtd">
<CdnManifest>
<options timeZone="EST" />
<server name="origin-web-server">
  <host name="http://www.cisco.com/media/"
        proto="http" />
</server>
<item-group
      server="origin-web-server"
      type="prepos"
      ttl="300">
 <item cdn-url="wild.ram" src="wildlife.rm" /> 
  <item cdn-url="gg.mpeg" src="GoldenGate.mpeg" /> 
  <item cdn-url="jbg.mp3" src="JohnnyBeGood.mp3" /> 
  <item cdn-url="paul.avi" src="fin371k.avi" /> 
</item-group>
<item cdn-url="house.rm"
  	src="house/house.rm"/>
<item cdn-url="house.rt"
  	src="house/house.rt"/>
<item cdn-url="house.smi"
  	src="house/house.smi">
    <contains cdn-url="house.rm"/>
    <contains cdn-url="house.rt"/>
  </item>
<!--item-group server="live-streamer" type="live">
    <item cdn-url="/voices.rm" src="encoder/test.rm"/-->
<!--/item-group-->
</CdnManifest>
 

Publishing URLs That Link to CDN Content

Having reviewed the syntax and structure of the manifest file, and created a manifest file for your hosted domain, you are ready to create URLs that point end users to your CDN content.

All URLs pointing to CDN content use the following structure:

http://hosted_domain_name/cdn-url

Optionally, CDN URLs can contain a playserver designation as follows:

http://hosted_domain_name/playserver/cdn-url

When no playserver is designated, cdn-media is used as the default playserver designation.

The elements of these URLs are described in Table 2-2. Be aware that all URL information is case sensitive—ignoring case sensitivity in your published Web pages will result in the CDN being unable to retrieve the requested content.

Adding Content Providers

Content providers are your customers. Content providers deploy content on a CDN.

Note   Before you add a content provider, you need to have up-to-date customer contact information available so that you can enter the correct information when you add the content provider.

To add a content provider, follow these steps:

The View Content Providers page appears. (See Figure 2-1.)

Step 2   Click Create Content Provider.

The Create a New Content Provider page appears. (See Figure 2-2.)

Step 3   Under the Content Provider heading, enter the company name for the content provider in the Name field.

---

Note   The company name must be distinct from that of other content provider company names.

---

Step 4   Enter the postal address for the content provider in these fields: Street, City, State, Zip (postal code), and Country.

Step 5   Under the Primary Contact heading, enter the name of the primary technical contact for the content provider in the Name field.

---

Note   The primary technical contact is usually the person responsible for the origin server that provides content to the delivery network.

---

Step 6   Use the fields provided to enter the phone number and e-mail address for the primary contact for this customer.

Step 7   Repeat Step 5 and Step 6 for the secondary contact person for the content provider.

---

Note   For a secondary contact, enter the name, telephone number, and e-mail address of a finance or accounting contact. (This step is optional.)

---

Step 8   Click Save to create a new content provider.

Adding Regions and Locations

A region is a geographical area. For example, Northeastern USA could be a region, or each time zone in the United States could correspond to a region. The three default regions are Eastern USA, Central USA, and Western USA.

Note   There must be a minimum of three regions. Although you can delete the default regions, you must always maintain at least three regions on the Content Distribution Manager.

A location is a physical place, for example San Jose, California, or a point of presence (POP). Each location has a region associated with it, which means that locations are grouped together in regions.

Content Routers and Content Engines have regions and locations associated with them. Content Routers use location and region information to make decisions about where to direct DNS requests.

Content Engines use regions and locations for grouping. You set up regions and locations based on the particular needs of your content providers.

Note   You can define up to 20 regions and 192 locations.

When you create a region, you must specify whether the region is desirable. A desirable region is one to which you can route any end user request (regardless of the geographic origin of the request) because of the existence of robust network connectivity. By default, a region is not desirable.

Most regions in the United States are desirable because network connectivity in the United States is generally very good. Network connectivity in other parts of the world may not be as robust, so if an end user request is received from Asia, you might not want to route the request to Africa, for example. However, routing the Asian request to anywhere in the United States would be acceptable.

Adding a Region

Since a location has a region associated with it, it is convenient to add regions before you add locations.

To add a region, follow these steps:

Step 2   From the dropdown list, choose Regions. The View Regions page appears. (See Figure 2-3.)

---

Note   Alternatively, click networks.

---

Step 3   Click Create Region.

The Create a Region page appears. (See Figure 2-4.)

Step 4   Under the Region heading, enter a region name in the Name field.

---

Note   The region name must be distinct from those of all other regions.

---

Step 5   Under the Comments heading, enter a description that is useful to you. (Comments do not appear to end users.) This step is optional.

---

Note   If you click Cancel at any time, all values return to their previous settings, and the View Regions page reappears.

---

Step 6   If the region is a desirable region, check the Desirable check box.

Step 7   Click Save to create the new region.

Adding a Location

To add a location, follow these steps:

Step 2   From the drop-down list, choose Locations. The View Locations page appears. (See Figure 2-5.)

Step 3   Click the Create Location button.

The Create a Location page appears. (See Figure 2-6.)

Step 4   Under the Location heading, enter a name for the location in the Name field.

---

Note   The location name must be distinct from those of all other locations.

---

Step 5   Next, choose a region from the Region drop-down list.

You must specify a region that is associated with the location. If you have not yet added the region you want, click Cancel and see the instructions for the "Adding a Region" section before attempting to create a location.

Step 6   Under the Comments heading, enter a description that is useful to you in the field provided. (Comments do not appear for end users.) This step is optional.

Step 7   Click Save to create your new location.

Activating the Warm Standby Content Distribution Manager

After configuring your warm standby Content Distribution Manager by following the procedure in the "Configuring the Content Distribution Manager" section in Chapter 3 of the Cisco Internet CDN Software Configuration Guide, you must activate the device from the graphical user interface of the primary Content Distribution Manager.

If you do not activate your warm standby Content Distribution Manager, it will not act as a failover device if the primary Content Distribution Manager goes offline unexpectedly.

To activate the warm standby Content Distribution Manager:

Step 2   From the drop-down list, choose Content Distribution Manager.

The View Content Distribution Managers page appears.

Step 3   Click the icon next to the name of the warm standby Content Distribution Manager. This is the device with the role of N/A and the status of inactive. The other Content Distribution Manager listed is your primary device.

---

Note   There cannot be two primary Content Distribution Managers.

---

The Modify a Content Distribution Manager page appears. (See Figure 2-7.)

Step 4   Under the General Configuration heading, check the Activate Node check box.

Step 5   Click Save to update the Content Distribution Manager record and activate the warm standby Content Distribution Manager.

You are returned to the View Content Distribution Managers page.

The warm standby Content Distribution Manager status changes briefly to standby while the device is being activated before changing to online, indicating that the device is ready to act as a failover device.

If the Content Distribution Manager does not return to the online state, verify that the device is running before contacting Cisco Technical Support.

Activating and Defining Content Routers and Content Engines

Using the Content Distribution Manager, you can edit the device properties of the Content Engines and Content Routers that you have configured. Properties that can be edited appear in Table 2-3.

Activating and Defining a Content Router

A Content Router is a device that selects suitable Content Engines within a CDN to serve a given end user request.

Note   There can be up to eight Content Routers in a CDN.

Before you can activate and define a Content Router, it must be registered with the Content Distribution Manager. Registration happens in the last step of the Content Router setup routine, but Content Routers can be reregistered with the Content Distribution Manager at any time.

In addition, your DNS server must have entries that provide a mapping to the Content Routers before content routing can take place. For information about configuring your Content Routers and registering them with the Content Distribution Manager, or for questions regarding DNS configuration, refer to the Cisco Internet CDN Software Configuration Guide.

To activate and define a Content Router, follow these steps:

Step 2   From the drop-down list, choose Content Routers.

The View Content Routers page appears. (See Figure 2-8.)

Step 3   Click the icon next to the name of the Content Router that you want to activate and define.

The Modify a Content Router page appears. (See Figure 2-9.) From this page you activate, define, and manage a Content Router.

Step 4   Under the General Configuration heading, enter a new name in the Content Router Name field if you want to change the name of the Content Router.

---

Note   The Content Router was named when it was configured. If you change the name, you must choose a unique name. No two Content Routers can have the same name.

---

Step 5   Under the General Configuration heading, check the Activate Node check box (not shown in Figure 2-9).

This activates the Content Router. The next time you display the Modify a Content Router page, the Activate Node check box will have disappeared and you will see that the Content Router is active.

---

Note   You cannot deactivate a Content Router once it has been activated. However, you can delete it, stop it, or shut it down. For information, see the "Deleti ng a Content Router" section 3-23.

---

Step 6   From the pull-down Location list, choose a location in which the selected Content Router will be grouped.

If the desired location has not already been created, see the "Adding a Location" section for instructions on how to add a location.

---

Note   A region is associated with a location, so the region appears automatically when the location is selected or defined. You cannot define a region here. For information on defining a region, see the "Addi ng a Region" section.

---

Step 7   Click Save to activate the selected Content Router.

Step 8   Change the default root and HTTP passwords for the Content Router from their default values once the device has been activated. See the "Modifying Content Router Passwords" section for instructions.

Activating and Defining a Content Engine

A Content Engine is a device that stores content from content providers and serves it to an end user.

Note   There can be up to 2000 Content Engines in a CDN.

Before you can activate and define a Content Engine, it must be registered with the Content Distribution Manager. Registration happens in the last step of the Content Engine setup routine, but Content Engines can be registered again with the Content Distribution Manager at any time. For information about configuring a Content Engine, refer to the Cisco Internet CDN Software Configuration Guide.

If the Content Engine you are activating will be a member of a supernode, review the recommended supernode configuration procedure in the "Supernode Configuration Priorities" section before proceeding.

To activate and define a Content Engine, follow these steps:

Step 2   From the drop-down list, choose Content Engines.

The View Content Engines page appears. (See Figure 2-10.)

Step 3   Click the icon next to the name of the Content Engine that you want to activate and define.

The Modify a Content Engine page appears. (See Figure 2-11.) From this page, you activate, define, and manage the Content Engine. A Content Engine that has been activated is available for assignment to a CDN.

Step 4   Under the General Configuration heading, enter a new name in the Content Engine Name field if you want to change the name of the Content Engine.

The Content Engine was named when it was configured. If you change the name, you must choose a unique name. No two Content Engines can have the same name.

---

Note   Content Engine names cannot contain spaces if the named Content Engine will be a member of a cluster.

---

Step 5   Under the General Configuration heading, check the Activate Node check box (not shown in Figure 2-11).

---

Note   You cannot deactivate a Content Engine once it has been activated. However, you can delete it, stop it, or shut it down. For information, see the "Deleti ng a Content Engine" section.

---

Step 6   From the Location drop-down list, choose a location in which to place the selected Content Engine.

If the desired location has not already been created, see the "Adding a Location" section for instructions on how to add a location before continuing. Then choose it from the location list.

---

Note   A region is associated with a location, so the region appears automatically when the location is selected or defined. You cannot define a region here. For information on defining a region, see the "Addi ng a Region" section.

---

Step 7   Under the Storage Allocation heading, set the amount of disk space on the selected Content Engine that will be reserved for pre-positioning video-on-demand media for content providers by entering the amount of space (in gigabytes) in the Pre-position Disk Space field.

---

Note   IREFO BJ:1193301Remember to leave enough room on your Content Engines to accommodate all your static cache content when setting pre-positioning disk space.

---

Step 8   Click Save to update the Content Engine record and activate the selected Content Engine.

Step 9   Change the default root and HTTP passwords for the Content Engine from their default values once the device has been activated. See the "Modifying Content Engine Passwords" section for instructions.

Adding Supernodes and Content Engine Clusters

Supernodes consist of two or more Content Engines grouped (or "clustered") behind a Content Services Switch. Supernodes provide data redundancy and next-click failover for CDN content, as well as load balancing between Content Engines for improved response time.

When creating a supernode on the CDN, you point the Content Distribution Manager to a Content Services Switch that has already been configured. To properly configure the supernode, you must have the following Content Services Switch configuration information at hand:

• IP address of the switch, referred to as the CSS configuration address. This address is used by the Content Distribution Manager to communicate directly with the switch.
  
• Content Services Switch password. This password is used by the Content Distribution Manager to gain secure access to the switch.
  
  

Supernode Configuration Priorities

Because supernodes are complex entities involving the configuration of two separate hardware devices in addition to software components, it is important to configure your hardware devices and software in the proper order, to avoid confusion or errors caused by trying to configure a supernode before one of its components has been properly prepared.

The following tasks must be completed when you configure a new supernode on your CDN. Tasks are listed in the order in which you should complete them. References to related sections in the Cisco Internet CDN software and hardware documentation are provided.

Creating a Supernode

Before attempting to create a supernode, review the recommended supernode configuration procedure in the "Supernode Configuration Priorities" section before proceeding.

To create a new supernode:

Step 2   From the drop-down list, choose SuperNodes. The View Supernodes page appears. (See Figure 2-12.)

Step 3   Click Create SuperNode. Fields for configuring the supernode appear on the Create a Supernode page. (See Figure 2-13.)

Step 4   Under the General Configuration Heading, in the SuperNode Name field, enter the name of the new supernode.

Step 5   From the Location drop-down list, choose a location in which the supernode (and its clusters) will be grouped. Once you choose a location, the region is supplied automatically.

If you have not already created a location, see the "Adding a Location" section before continuing.

Step 6   Under the CSS Information heading, check the Redundant CSS check box if the Content Services Switch you are identifying is acting as a redundant switch.

Step 7   Under the CSS Password heading, in the Password field, enter the root account password required to log in to your Content Services Switch.

Step 8   Confirm the Content Services Switch root account password by reentering it in the Re-type Password field.

---

Note   Do not attempt to supply a new root account password for the Content Services Switch using the password fields provided on the Modify a Supernode page. Entering a password other than the actual root account password in these fields may cause your Content Services Switch to become unstable.

---

Step 9   Under the CSS Configuration Address heading, enter the IP address of the Content Services Switch in the IP Address field. You should have recorded the IP address of the Content Services Switch during its initial configuration.

Step 10   If you wish, in the Comments field, enter a text description that will accompany the Content Services Switch. (Comments do not appear to end users.)

Step 11   Click Save to create the new supernode. The Content Distribution Manager uses the addresses you supplied to contact the Content Services Switch. You are returned to the View Supernodes page. The supernode status appears as configuring until the new supernode configuration information has been propagated.

Once the supernode status changes from configuring to up to date, you can proceed and create your Content Engine clusters. See the next section, "Creating a Cluster."

Creating a Cluster

Content Engines are designated for membership in a cluster during initial configuration, when they are associated with a Content Services Switch on the network. The actual Content Engine groupings, however, are created using the Content Distribution Manager user interface.

Note   There can be up to 1000 clusters on a CDN.

Content Engines in a cluster act cooperatively to serve the same set of content for the hosted domain. Each Content Engine must be allocated a uniform amount of disk space for pre-positioning video-on-demand content. Because of this, we recommend that you put Content Engines with the same amount of available disk space in the same cluster so that resources are not wasted on any of your Content Engines.

Before attempting to create a cluster, you must first have done the following:

• Created the supernode to which the cluster will belong
  
  
• Obtained the static IP address from your DNS server that will serve as the virtual IP address, which is used to communicate with the Content Engines in the cluster
  
  
• Optionally obtained a host name from the DNS server that will serve as the virtual host name and be used to communicate with the Content Engines in the cluster
  
  

Before attempting to create a cluster, review the recommended supernode configuration procedure in the "Supernode Configuration Priorities" section before proceeding.

To create a cluster:

Step 2   From the drop-down list, choose SuperNodes.

The View Supernodes page appears. (See Figure 2-12.)

Step 3   Click the edit icon next to the supernode in which you wish to create a new cluster. Fields for modifying the supernode properties appear on the View Clusters page. (See Figure 2-14.)

Step 4   Click Create Cluster (not shown in Figure 2-14). Fields for configuring the new cluster appear on the Create a Cluster page. (See Figure 2-15.)

Step 5   Under the General Configuration heading, enter the name of the new cluster in the Cluster Name field.

---

Note   You may wish to use a name that makes it easy to distinguish this group of Content Engines from others behind the same supernode.

---

Step 6   In the Virtual IP Address field, enter the static IP address for the cluster. This is the public IP address that end users link to when requesting content from the hosted domain. This address must be supplied by your DNS server.

Step 7   In the Virtual Hostname field, enter a DNS host name for the cluster. This host name is used in place of the Content IP address to represent the cluster to CDN users. This address must be supplied by your DNS server.

---

Note   If your virtual IP address can be resolved back to a DNS address, the virtual host name value is optional.

---

Step 8   Under the Pre-position Disk Space heading, enter the amount of pre-positioned disk space (in gigabytes) that will be allocated on each Content Engine assigned to this cluster. Pre-positioned disk space is hard disk space on each Content Engine that is reserved for storing video-on-demand and other content for user requests.

---

Note   Disk space allocations for pre-positioning content on Content Engines through the cluster take precedence over and, if necessary, overwrite other pre-positioned disk space allocations for devices.

---

Step 9   If you wish, in the Comments field, enter a text description to accompany the cluster. This step is optional. (Comments do not appear to end users.)

Step 10   Under the Content Engines heading, choose the name of the Content Engine you wish to add to this cluster. Content Engines cannot belong to more than one cluster, and Content Engines that have already been added to a cluster are not listed.

---

Note   Content Engines that are members of clusters cannot have names that contain spaces.

---

Step 11   Click OK to create the new cluster.

The Content Distribution Manager uses the addresses you supplied to group the selected Content Engines into a new cluster.

Creating a Hosted Domain for a Content Provider

A hosted domain is a group of related content that is being hosted on a CDN and distributed on behalf of a content provider.

A given content provider can define multiple hosted domains containing different sets of content on the CDN.

Each hosted domain has the following characteristics:

• It is associated with a content provider.
  
  
• It stores the address of the content provider origin server from which the hosted content originates and from which the Content Engines retrieve their content for caching.
  
  
• It is assigned a unique, fourth-level domain called the hosted domain name, which is used in URLs pointing to CDN content.
  
  
• Its name corresponds to a real, delegated domain that has already been configured on your DNS server.
  
  
• It is associated with one or more Content Engines that store pre-positioned video-on-demand content for the content provider.
  
  

The content provider modifies its web page to point to content stored on the CDN, replacing URLs on its web page with the appropriate CDN URL. See the "Publishing URLs That Link to CDN Content" section.

To create a hosted domain, follow these steps:

Step 2   From the drop-down list, choose Hosted Domains.

The View Hosted Domains page appears. (See Figure 2-16.)

Step 3   Click Create Hosted Domain.

The Create a Hosted Domain page appears. (See Figure 2-17.)

Step 4   Under the Hosted Domain heading, enter a valid CDN hosted domain name in the Name field, using the following guidelines:

• The hosted domain name must be a valid, fourth-level delegated domain name, for example:
  

www.cdn.cisco.com
 

• The hosted domain name does not contain underscore (_) characters.
  
• The first part of the domain name (www in the example above) is open, and can be defined by you when you create the hosted domain name.
  
  
• The remaining subdomain (the three segments after the first dot) must correspond to a delegated domain created on your DNS server to provide a functional mapping for the Content Routers.
  
• The CDN must be given the right to act as the authoritative DNS server for the subdomain you specify.
  
  

Step 5   In the Origin Server field, enter the name or IP address of the origin website of the content provider's content, for example:

www.cisco.com

Your Origin Server field cannot contain a path to a subdirectory on the server. The following example is not a valid origin server address:

www.cisco.com/support 
 

Step 6   From the Content Provider drop-down list, choose the content provider whose content will be stored on this hosted domain.

If you have not added any content providers to the CDN yet, see the "Adding Content Providers" section for instructions on doing so before continuing.

Step 7   In the Alias field, enter an optional alias for the hosted domain. For example, if your hosted domain name is:

www.cdn.cisco.com

but you want to use a third-level as opposed to a fourth-level domain name on all your published links, you can use the Alias field to map a third-level domain name to your host domain name such as:

www.cisco-cdn.com

---

Note   You must provide a CNAME mapping between the delegated domain and your alias on the DNS server before aliasing will work. Entering your alias on the Create a Hosted Domain page is not sufficient to enable hosted domain aliasing.

---

Step 8   Under the Manifest heading, identify the manifest file that will be used by this hosted domain to coordinate the delivery of live and video-on-demand content. See the "Creating a Manifest File for Importing Media" section for more information on creating manifest files.

http://www.cisco.com/manifest/manifest.xml

Step 9   If you wish, enter notes about the Hosted Domain or instructions for other users in the Comments field. This step is optional. Comments are for internal use only and are not accessible to end users.

Step 10   Click Save to create the new hosted domain.

Before you can begin serving content from the new hosted domain, you must first assign Content Engines to it. See the next section, "Assigning Content Engines to Hosted Domains."

Assigning Content Engines to Hosted Domains

Once you have created a hosted domain using the Content Distribution Manager, you need to assign it to one or more Content Engines from which its content will be served.

Content Engines may be grouped together into supernodes, or act as standalone nodes. Within a given supernode, there may be one or more groupings of Content Engines, referred to as clusters. Nodes and supernodes are in turn grouped by region and location. Alternatively, clusters and nodes can be viewed according to the virtual CDN to which they belong.

To assign Content Engines to your hosted domain:

Step 2   From the drop-down list, choose Hosted Domains. The View Hosted Domains page appears (see Figure 2-16), listing the hosted domains on your CDN.

Step 3   Follow the instructions for modifying an existing hosted domain in the "Modifying Hosted Domains" section to open your hosted domain for editing.

Step 4   Click the Assign Content Engines button. The browser refreshes to display the Assign Content Engines to Hosted Domains page. (See Figure 2-18.) A list of Content Engines to which the hosted domain is assigned appears.

Step 5   Click the Assign CEs by Region or Assign CEs by Virtual CDN tab.

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Note   Virtual CDNs are groupings of Content Engines that are independent of the Content Engines' geographical location. Virtual CDNs can be created to respond to the particular needs of a CDN.

---

Step 6   Choose the region or virtual CDN containing the Content Engines that you wish to assign to the hosted domain. A list of locations in the region or clusters in the virtual CDN appears.

If you are assigning Content Engines by regions, click the name of the location in your region containing the Content Engines you wish to assign; otherwise, go to Step 7.

Step 7   Check the check box adjacent to the name of the cluster or Content Engine with which you wish to associate the hosted domain.

Step 8   Click the Add Selected CEs button. The list of clusters or Content Engines to which the hosted domain is assigned refreshes, listing the newly added Content Engine or cluster.

Step 9   From the Root Location drop-down menu, choose a root location for the hosted domain.

The root location is the location within the CDN content distribution hierarchy from which content is replicated. Content replication is handled by the lead Content Engine in the root location to lead Content Engines in nonroot locations. Once it is replicated to the lead Content Engine in each location, content is then distributed to all nonlead Content Engines in the location.

Step 10   Click Save.

Activating Windows Media Services for a Hosted Domain

If you will be serving Windows Media content from a hosted domain using a Windows Media Server, you must first activate Windows Media Services on each hosted domain that will be serving the Windows Media content.

Make sure that all Content Engines on your hosted domain are running Version 2.1 or later of the Cisco Internet CDN Software before enabling Windows Media Services on the hosted domain. Although it is possible for a hosted domain to contain Content Engines that are running different versions of the Cisco Internet CDN Software, Content Engines that using versions of the CDN software earlier than Version 2.1 are not able to serve Windows Media content.

Note   Before activating Windows Media Services, you must first have purchased licenses for Windows Media Services for each of the Content Engines in each of the hosted domains that will be serving content using a Windows Media Server.

To activate Windows Media Services on a hosted domain:

Step 2   From the Cisco Internet CDN Software user interface, click resources.

From the drop-down list, choose Hosted Domains. The View Hosted Domains page appears (see Figure 2-16), listing the hosted domains on your CDN.

Step 3   Click the edit icon next to the name of the hosted domain you wish to edit. The Create a Hosted Domain page appears. (See Figure 2-17.)

Step 4   Check the Enable WMT on all Content Engines assigned to this Hosted Domain check box. Each Content Engine on the hosted domain will restart with the Windows Media Server enabled.

Step 5   Click Save. You are returned to the View Hosted Domains page.

Step 6   Repeat Step 3 through Step 5 for each hosted domain on which you wish to enable Windows Media Services.

Configuring Content Security for Hosted Domains

The Cisco Internet CDN offers content providers the option of securing CDN content using Symmetric Key Content Authorization (SKCA).

Using this form of content security, content providers "sign" all user requests with a unique "symmetric key"—essentially a powerful algorithm that is used to encrypt string values. Each hosted domain on which content security is enabled has its own set of symmetric keys. The content provider has access to all symmetric keys. In this case, the input string from which the encrypted "signature" is derived from a combination of authentication information from the original user request. The resulting encrypted string, or Message Authentication Code (MAC), is appended to the request along with the (unencrypted) authentication variables. The entire request string is then forwarded from the content provider to the Content Engine.

Once the Content Engine receives the secure request, it first determines which symmetric key was used to sign the request. Once the symmetric key is located, the Content Engine inserts the unencrypted authentication variables into the symmetric key. If the value that is produced matches the MAC on the incoming request, the Content Engine attempts to serve the request to the user, checking first to make sure that the requested URL has not expired.

If the value that is produced does not match the MAC on the incoming request, the Content Engine rejects the request and redirects the requesting client to an error message page.

For instructions on viewing a hosted domain's symmetric keys, see the "Viewing Symmetric Keys" section.

To configure content security for a hosted domain:

Step 2   From the drop-down list, choose Hosted Domains. The View Hosted Domains page appears (see Figure 2-16), listing the hosted domains on your CDN.

Step 3   Click the icon next to the name of the hosted domain on which you want to enable content security.

The Modify a Hosted Domain page appears. (See Figure 3-7.)

Step 4   Click the SKCA (Symmetric Key Content Authorization) button to enable content security on the hosted domain.

Step 5   Use the fields provided to configure content authentication as follows:

• Key size—Select a key size by clicking the appropriate button: 32, 64, or 128 bit. The size selected determines the number of bits in the key.
  
• Signature Duration—Enter a value representing the number of days a key can be used to sign user request URLs. Once a key has expired, it can no longer be used to sign user requests.
  
• Signature Overlap—Enter a value representing the number of days during which two keys are valid for signing and verifying user requests.
  

Step 6   In the Error URL field, enter the address of the web page that you wish to display whenever content cannot be served.

This error page will display the invalid request URL and an error code, both of which are generated by the Content Engine.

For an explanation of the content authentication errors, see "Error and Event Messages."

Step 7   In the Key Access Password field, enter a value that will serve as a secure password that must be entered by any CDN user wishing to view the symmetric key for the hosted domain.

Step 8   Reenter the password value in the Retype Key Access Password field to verify that the value you entered is correct.

Step 9   Click Save. The hosted domain is updated with the new symmetric key information.

If you need to update the symmetric key password, see the "Changing the Symmetric Key Password" section.

Replicating Content from the Origin Server to a Hosted Domain

Once you have created your hosted domain, assigned Content Engines to it, and linked your hosted domain to a manifest file that identifies the content to be hosted, you are ready to copy content from your origin server to the hosted domain. This process is referred to as "fetching" content from the origin server and "replicating" or "pre-positioning" it on the Content Engines that belong to your hosted domain.

Note   By its very nature, live content is not fetched from the origin server or the live streaming server. Instead, manifest file entries prepare Content Engines to properly handle and direct live content requests.

To fetch content from your origin server and replicate it to your Content Engines:

Step 2   From the drop-down list, choose Hosted Domains. The View Hosted Domains page (see Figure 2-16) appears.

Step 3   Follow the instructions for modifying an existing hosted domain in the "Modifying Hosted Domains" section to open your hosted domain for editing.

Step 4   Verify that the URL field points to the correct manifest file (with an XML extension) for the hosted domain.

Step 5   Click Fetch Manifest. You are prompted to confirm your decision to begin copying the content named by the manifest file to the Content Engines assigned to the hosted domain.

Step 6   Click OK. You are returned to the View Hosted Domains page. (See Figure 2-16.)

Step 7   You can view the status of media replication from the origin server to your Content Engines at any time. See the "Viewing the Status of Content Replication to a Hosted Domain" section for instructions.

Setting the Responsible Person Address for the CDN

Using the Routing Properties feature of the Cisco Internet CDN Software, you can set the responsible person (RP) contact information for the hosted domains on your CDN. The RP address is used to report problems to your domain administrator.

To configure the responsible person address:

Step 2   From the drop-down list, choose Routing Properties. Fields displaying the coverage zones and CDN-specific configuration settings used by your DNS server appear.

Step 3   In the Email Address field, enter the full e-mail address for the RP account to which messages regarding the CDN domain can be sent.

Step 4   Click Save to save changes to the RP e-mail account.

Creating a Virtual CDN

A virtual CDN is a logical grouping of Content Engines and clusters that provides an alternative to region and location groupings when you view, manage, and assign Content Engines.

Once assigned to a hosted domain, Content Engines or clusters distribute the content from content providers.

To create a virtual CDN, follow these steps:

The View Virtual CDNs page appears. (See Figure 2-19.)

Tips Alternatively, you can access the View Virtual CDNs page by clicking resources and then choosing Virtual CDNs from the drop-down list.

Step 2   Click the Create Virtual CDN button.

The Create a Virtual CDN page appears. (See Figure 2-20.)

Step 3   Under the Virtual CDN heading, in the Name field, enter a name for the virtual CDN.

Step 4   In the Comments field, enter a description for the virtual CDN that is useful to you. (This step is optional.) Although it is not required, you may want to assign your Content Engines and Content Engine clusters to the virtual CDN that you are creating at this time.

Step 5   Click the Assign CEs by Region tab. The page refreshes, displaying a list of defined regions.

Step 6   Click the name of the region containing the first Content Engines that you wish to assign. A table displaying the locations defined for the region appears.

Step 7   Click the name of the location containing the first Content Engines that you wish to assign. A table listing the Content Engines and Content Engine clusters in the location appears.

Step 8   Check the check box next to each Content Engine or cluster that you wish to add to the virtual CDN, or check the check box in the column header to choose all devices in the list.

Step 9   Click the Add Selected CEs button to add the Content Engines or clusters to the virtual CDN. The list of assigned Content Engines refreshes to include the newly added Content Engine.

Step 10   Repeat Step 6 through Step 9 for each Content Engine or cluster that you wish to add to the newly created virtual CDN.

Step 11   Click Save to create your new virtual CDN.

For instructions on modifying the list of assigned Content Engines and clusters after you have created your virtual CDN, see the next section, "Assigning Content Engines to Virtual Content Delivery Networks."

Assigning Content Engines to Virtual Content Delivery Networks

A Content Engine or Content Engine cluster can be assigned to one or more virtual CDNs at any time. To assign a Content Engine to a virtual CDN:

Step 2   Click the icon next to the name of the virtual CDN to which you want to assign a Content Engine.

The Modify a Virtual CDN page appears. (See Figure 2-21.)

Step 3   Click the Assign CEs by Region tab. The page refreshes, displaying a list of defined regions.

Step 4   Choose the name of the region containing the first Content Engines that you wish to assign. A table displaying the locations defined for the region appears.

Step 5   Choose the name of the location containing the first Content Engines that you wish to assign. A table listing the Content Engines and clusters in the location appears.

Step 6   Check the check box next to each Content Engine or cluster that you wish to add to the virtual CDN, or click the check box in the column header to choose all devices in the list.

Step 7   Click the Add Selected CEs button to add the Content Engines or clusters to the virtual CDN.

Step 8   Repeat Step 4 through Step 7 for each Content Engine or cluster that you wish to add to the virtual CDN.

Step 9   Click Save to update the virtual CDN with the new Content Engines or clusters.

Creating User Accounts

You can use the user administration feature of the Content Distribution Manager to create login accounts to access the Cisco Internet CDN Software user interface. Accounts can be created for administrator, operations, and guest-level login accounts.

Note   All user names must be unique. There cannot be duplicate user names on the CDN, even if the users have different permission levels.

For detailed information on the purpose of each type of account, see the "CDN Users" section.

To create a new user account:

The View Content Engine Statistics page appears.

Step 2   From the drop-down list, choose User Administration.

The View User Accounts page appears, listing existing user accounts.

Step 3   Click the Create User button. The User Account Configuration page appears.

Step 4   Under the User Account heading, configure the user account with the following required information:

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Step 5   Under the Personal Information heading, enter contact information for the individual associated with this user account as follows:

Step 6   Optionally, in the Comments field, enter any comments associated with this contact.

Step 7   Click Save. The account is added to the list of user accounts.