Cisco Systems repackaged Arroyo Video Solutions’ video-on-demand software as the Cisco Content Delivery System and will sell it as hardware appliances, the company is expected to announce Monday.
The equipment maker's newly introduced Content Delivery Engine VOD appliances -- which are based on Linux software running on PC-based hardware -- are available in five configurations of one- to four-rack-unit servers.
Cisco acquired Arroyo in August.
“Customers wanted a turnkey solution,” said Kip Compton, Cisco's director of video and Internet-protocol-TV development. “They did not like the model [with Arroyo] where they had to buy the hardware separately and configure the Linux kernel separately.” Compton would not disclose which PC manufacturer is supplying the server hardware to Cisco.
The primary focus of the new release is the “Cisco-ization of the product,” Compton added. Among future enhancements planned for the platform are supporting content distribution across a “nationwide fabric,” adding targeted and personalized advertising features and continuing to integrate the system with additional VOD-transaction systems. The servers currently work with Tandberg’s OpenStream, C-COR’s nABLE, Siemens' Myrio and the Comcast Next-Generation On-Demand (NGOD) platforms.
Cisco's five CDE models are:
• CDE-100, a one-rack-unit (1RU) server that provides the Content Delivery System management software;
• CDE-200, a 2RU server that stores up to 3,000 hours of MPEG-2 standard-definition content or up to 750 hours of MPEG-2 HD content;
• CDE-300, a 3RU server that stores up to 1,000 MPEG-2 SD streams or up to 250 MPEG-2 HD streams;
• CDE-302, also 3RU, which stores up to 2,000 MPEG-2 SD streams or up to 500 MPEG-2 HD streams; and
• CDE-400, a 4RU device that includes 12 terabytes of serial Advanced Technology Attachment storage, which can store up to 6,000 hours of MPEG-2 SD content or up to 1,500 hours of MPEG-2 HD content.
