New-Generation Networks: 10 Ways They Enhance Online Media Experiences

The industry has gone mobile with heavy emphasis on cloud applications. However, current network architectures generally cannot keep up with the exponential traffic growth that’s driven largely by video and other rich media. New-generation network platforms that can scale are the ones that should be tested and deployed.

Service providers need an agile service platform that can adapt to offer a better entertainment experience for customers. This can range from the latest online game to the highest HDTV resolution. Make sure you choose a platform that offers maximum investment protection because the world will change—and you need to change with it.

Virtualize the network to give you the best cost structure, maximum agility and optimal user experiences.

Ensure that security is in place at all layers of your infrastructure. You have a tremendous asset in your network data involving applications, traffic patterns and subscribers. Providing mass customization is a huge competitive advantage—as long as users are confident in your security profile.

Allow customers to have access to data at any time with high-speed service to connect any number (yes, billions) of subscribers and devices. To do this, you need massive scale at the service-creation point (the network edge), flexibility and application awareness driven by software, and the ability to control traffic flows centrally.

Using one of the scalable new-generation platforms, for example, service providers can now simultaneously stream the equivalent of every title that Netflix, Hulu Plus and Amazon Prime offer, all from a single line card.

Service providers can now make it possible for each member of the family to customize a television or PC to display personalized content on-demand. Parents also can choose to filter the content their children see to ensure a safe and fun experience. These services are valuable, and customers are willing to pay for them.

Simplify complex monitoring and routing intelligence throughout the network by centralizing control in a new-generation services platform. This eliminates unnecessary adjunct appliances in order to maximize efficiency and performance to better deliver the entertainment experience. Consolidating network optimization and service monetization with this type of single-edge router system also speeds time to deployment and streamlines operations.

A good single-edge router has the capacity to deliver high-definition video to the equivalent of every household in New York—and still have room for New Jersey. That’s almost 10.5 million houses.

As mobile devices advance, new apps will emerge that combine video, analytics and voice, resulting in larger media files. Service providers can plan for these advances today by choosing networking technology that scales as consumer demands expand. Using a single-edge router as discussed previously, scale is more than just speeds and feeds. It’s a hypervisor for the network edge that brings drag-and-drop application deployment within reach.