Akamai, KPMG Join Cisco Systems, UNDP in Building NetAid Technology
NetAid will mark the first time that the power of the Internet, the reach of television and radio, and the energy and impact of world class artists come together on a global scale to fight extreme poverty, which affects more than one billion people who live on less than one dollar per day. The NetAid web site, www.netaid.org, will launch September 8. Three overlapping concerts on October 9 with world class artists in New York, London and Geneva will be broadcast around the world and webcast live. This initiative is expected to generate one billion hits and millions of actions to fight poverty, from donations of time and money, to the contribution of ideas and involvement with leading anti-poverty organizations.
"NetAid represents a powerful call to action for countries, companies and people," said Don Listwin, executive vice president of Cisco Systems. "Using the power of the Internet, NetAid will be a lasting resource in the fight to end extreme poverty."
The network architecture for NetAid, designed by Cisco, employs three distinct components and includes a total of over 1,500 servers located in more than 90 data centers worldwide:
KPMG, in addition to building the site, also is developing the electronic commerce capability that will be hosted on two secure servers, and managed by Cisco at its San Jose operations center. KPMG developed this site in less than 90 days. It is designed to handle up to 60 million hits per hour, one of the largest sites ever developed.
Akamai Technologies will serve the web site content using Akamai's distributed network of over 1,200 servers in more than 90 datacenters worldwide. The web site will be managed and monitored from Akamai's Network Operating Center in Cambridge, MA and will have the capacity to serve 12 Gb/s of content and receive 60 million hits per hour - 10 times the peak of the last Olympics and 1998 Men's World Cup. Cisco will deploy an additional 38 web servers using RedHat Linux/Apache software to host the text portions of the site.
The live streaming of the concerts on two channels - one carrying the concerts, the other providing a continuous backstage feed - will use 300 RealVideo G2 splitters and will be managed by Real Networks from their Seattle operations center. The live streaming will serve as many as 125,000 simultaneous viewers, ten times the largest capacity ever used.
"Akamai is very pleased to be working with Cisco and KPMG as a NetAid sponsor. Using the Internet to raise awareness about global poverty is a cause we are proud to support," said George Conrades, Akamai Chairman and CEO. "Our global network is ready to serve the huge crowds expected to visit the NetAid site throughout the summer and fall -- with speed and reliability."
"KPMG is pleased that Cisco and the UNDP invited us to join them as a key sponsor of NetAid. As a worldwide leader in eEngineering, it is gratifying and exciting for us to be able to deploy this revolutionary technology toward such an important humanitarian goal," said Steve Butler, Chairman & CEO of KPMG LLP. "It is fitting that the largest scale Internet technology deployment in the world will have the potential to positively impact the lives of so many around the world, including people who ma
About Akamai
Akamai Technologies is headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts and has offices in San Mateo and Cupertino, California, and Europe. Akamai is the leader in distributed content, streaming media, and applications delivery, serving over 225 of the Web's most popular properties including over 100 leading e-commerce companies. Akamai has deployed the broadest global network for content, streaming media, and applications delivery with more than 2000 servers in over 40 countries directly connected to more than 100 different telecommunications networks. Akamai (pronounced AH kuh my) is Hawaiian for intelligent, clever and cool.
| Contacts: |
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| Bob Chlopak NetAid, Wash., D.C. 202-289-5900 |
--or-- | Wendy Ziner Akamai Technologies 617-250-3054 ziner@akamai.com |
| Jeanette Gibson Cisco Systems, Inc. 408-525-8965 |
--or-- | John Fidler KPMG 201-505-8849 |
NetAid Network Will Be Unprecedented in Scale and Integration 125,000 Simultaneous Live Streams, 1,500 servers in Over 90 Data Centers Worldwide
San Jose, CA, and New York, NY -- Cisco Systems and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) announced today that they will deploy the largest scale Internet technology and the most integrated combination of media ever used to promote social change as part of NetAid, a long term initiative to help end the growing problems of extreme poverty around the world. Besides Cisco and UNDP, two leading technology companies are contributing significantly to NetAid as sponsors: KPMG, a leader in eEngineering, is building the web site to scale for mass audiences. Akamai Technologies, which operates a global Internet content delivery service, will serve the site content.NetAid will mark the first time that the power of the Internet, the reach of television and radio, and the energy and impact of world class artists come together on a global scale to fight extreme poverty, which affects more than one billion people who live on less than one dollar per day. The NetAid web site, www.netaid.org, will launch September 8. Three overlapping concerts on October 9 with world class artists in New York, London and Geneva will be broadcast around the world and webcast live. This initiative is expected to generate one billion hits and millions of actions to fight poverty, from donations of time and money, to the contribution of ideas and involvement with leading anti-poverty organizations.
"NetAid represents a powerful call to action for countries, companies and people," said Don Listwin, executive vice president of Cisco Systems. "Using the power of the Internet, NetAid will be a lasting resource in the fight to end extreme poverty."
The network architecture for NetAid, designed by Cisco, employs three distinct components and includes a total of over 1,500 servers located in more than 90 data centers worldwide:
KPMG, in addition to building the site, also is developing the electronic commerce capability that will be hosted on two secure servers, and managed by Cisco at its San Jose operations center. KPMG developed this site in less than 90 days. It is designed to handle up to 60 million hits per hour, one of the largest sites ever developed.
Akamai Technologies will serve the web site content using Akamai's distributed network of over 1,200 servers in more than 90 datacenters worldwide. The web site will be managed and monitored from Akamai's Network Operating Center in Cambridge, MA and will have the capacity to serve 12 Gb/s of content and receive 60 million hits per hour - 10 times the peak of the last Olympics and 1998 Men's World Cup. Cisco will deploy an additional 38 web servers using RedHat Linux/Apache software to host the text portions of the site.
The live streaming of the concerts on two channels - one carrying the concerts, the other providing a continuous backstage feed - will use 300 RealVideo G2 splitters and will be managed by Real Networks from their Seattle operations center. The live streaming will serve as many as 125,000 simultaneous viewers, ten times the largest capacity ever used.
"Akamai is very pleased to be working with Cisco and KPMG as a NetAid sponsor. Using the Internet to raise awareness about global poverty is a cause we are proud to support," said George Conrades, Akamai Chairman and CEO. "Our global network is ready to serve the huge crowds expected to visit the NetAid site throughout the summer and fall -- with speed and reliability."
"KPMG is pleased that Cisco and the UNDP invited us to join them as a key sponsor of NetAid. As a worldwide leader in eEngineering, it is gratifying and exciting for us to be able to deploy this revolutionary technology toward such an important humanitarian goal," said Steve Butler, Chairman & CEO of KPMG LLP. "It is fitting that the largest scale Internet technology deployment in the world will have the potential to positively impact the lives of so many around the world, including people who ma
About Akamai
Akamai Technologies is headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts and has offices in San Mateo and Cupertino, California, and Europe. Akamai is the leader in distributed content, streaming media, and applications delivery, serving over 225 of the Web's most popular properties including over 100 leading e-commerce companies. Akamai has deployed the broadest global network for content, streaming media, and applications delivery with more than 2000 servers in over 40 countries directly connected to more than 100 different telecommunications networks. Akamai (pronounced AH kuh my) is Hawaiian for intelligent, clever and cool.
