This new network provider aims to build a global network without deploying any servers. Every ISP know about it, both for the new ideas and for the controversy.

by Alex Goldman ISP-Planet Managing Editor [January 16, 2009]

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia-based Aflexi has launched a new content delivery network and is counting on ISPs to help it build out its infrastructure. The company wants ISPs around the world to put their servers on its marketplace, and thus allow webhosts to offer local service everywhere.

"An open market enables small ISPs to participate," says founder and CEO Whei-Meng Wong.

For example, let's say a small business contacts you, and wants websites in Europe and Asia. You search the Aflexi marketplace, bidding, say $0.10 per GB over a certain amount of time (this payment is in addition to transit costs, which Aflexi does not cover).

You obtain an offer from one or more ISPs in China and an offer from the UK. You select one server in each location, and now have service on three continents.

Wong has spent eight years in the webhosting industry—in fact, on a Gartner blog post by Lydia Leong describing his offer, he admits to being a spammer listed in ROKSO but writes that he's learned, and adds, if I understand it correctly, that he was very young when he started out, made some bad decisions, and has matured.

Gartner analyst Lydia Leong sees Aflexi as the start of a new generation of CDNs that need not deploy their own infrastructure.

ARPU
Whei-Meng Wong says he understands the problems that webhosts are facing. ARPU is declining and growth (after churn) is flat. Webhosts need a new revenue stream.

Aflexi (which stands for "a flexible CDN") is designed to deliver that revenue stream. It does so not by competing directly with the big providers like Limelight and Akamai, but by offering a smaller and cheaper service to publishers who cannot afford the most expensive CDNs.

Whei-Meng Wong says (calling from Malaysia, where it is 9 AM local time; it's 8 PM in New York) that publishers face problems that Aflexi can solve. Many websites cannot afford CDNs but do deliver content all over the world. They would like to have mirrors for their website to eliminate the "single-server performance bottleneck" and Aflexi, with your participation, can deliver those extra servers.

"Aflexi combines networks," he says, "allowing webhosts to scale without deploying physical servers in distant locations."

What prevents Aflexi from overloading an ISP's network? Whei-Meng Wong explains that each ISP sets aside a given amount of bandwidth in their profile, and that the Aflexi software monitors performance, diverting traffic if there's a bottleneck. On the other hand, if demand for a website explodes, Aflexi can add servers.

What is the load on an ISP's network? An ISP simply deploys software, so there's no hardware load an no downtime.

Does the software generate a profile of the ISP's network? Yes it does.

Features
Whei-Meng Wong says that the CDN has several unique features. Webhosts will classify the content they provide, so that other webhosts can avoid controversial content such as politics or pornography.

Won't that require policing? "Aflexi will have the ultimate override," he explains. "In the even of complaints or abuse, we will be able to take down the website, but we do not have the resources to monitor proactively. It is the obligation of the host to monitor—we just provide the software."

The service will cost $150 per month, plus a charge for bandwidth that could be as low as 0.8 cents per gigabyte. As the service gets more popular, Whei-Meng Wong candidly admits, the company will charge a higher monthly fee.

Background
Whei-Meng Wong and his colleagues are recent university graduates. The company is funded in part by the government of Malaysia. This is a fascinating service, raising as many questions as I can answer in this article, but this is clear to me: it is a service that every ISP should know about.

In Q1 and Q2 of 2009, Aflexi is releasing its CDN marketplace, integrating into contemporary billing systems, and with APS certified control panels such as cPanel and Plesk.

Over the coming two to three years, it plans to add APIs for third party integration, a dynamic caching capability, and vertical markets.

At the moment, to my eyes, this looks more like a sophisticated and proprietary peering system than an actual CDN, focused on downloads rather than streaming media, but it should nevertheless fill an interesting niche in the marketplace.

"The Aflexi CDN solution sets a new trend in promoting collaboration and resource sharing among Aflexi-powered CDN players," concludes Whei-Meng Wong.

Gartner's Leong expects to see imitators and competitors to Aflexi in the near future.

I know of none now.

—End