CoDaaS: content delivery as a service for user generated contents

User-generated content (UGC) is touted as one of the driving forces in global media industry. However, due to its long-tail nature, UGC presents a list of design challenges in media distribution, which in turn dictate a set of required features to support UGC delivery. Existing solutions based on content delivery network (CDN), due to their lack of all the required features, are often inadequate. In this paper, we propose an innovative idea of Content-Delivery-as-a-Service (CoDaaS). Specifically, virtual Content Delivery Service (vCDS) is configured, in an on-demand manner, for UGC providers to distribute their contents to a group of designated consumers. The proposed CoDaaS solution builds on a hybrid media cloud, and offers elastic private virtual content delivery services with an agreed Quality of Service (QoS) to UGC providers. We have built a system prototype, complemented with a simulation platform, with an objective to establish technical feasibility and optimize system performance. The preliminary results, obtained from two pilot applications, validate all the required features for UGC delivery and verify its comparative performance advantages. Further research will focus on extending the prototype into an open-access platform for application development, thus accelerating the innovations in UGC delivery.