HN user
This is a neat article, but 'CDN' is such a broad term. This is much more a very well done proof of concept article, but fails to take into account the huge scope of a large scale CDN, and all associated quirks it comes with.
They also account for an infinitesimally small amount of global net traffic. Their rapid adoption of IPv6 is more symbolic than anything else. And it got them mentioned here, so presumably it was a success.
If you're in the US, this phone will only get 3G/HSPA service on T-Mobile, and it's MVNOs.
Major CDNs do use anycast routing, in conjunction with DNS/geolocation based routing in locations where anycast's results would be unpredictable (usually in locations where there are many POPs.)
Apple has a long running relationship with Akamai, but they also use Limelight and Level 3 for content delivery as well.
If the deal goes through, it may require Facebook to take a different approach with their CDN strategy. They will probably either begin to roll their own (given their size and budgets), or move to a blended environment where they utilize multiple CDNs based on region and traffic levels.
For example, Apple historically has used Akamai for their content delivery, but as of around ~2009, they began to use Limelight in conjunction with Akamai. Just today with the iOS 5/OS X updates, I noticed at home in Los Angeles that the delivery from Limelight was terrible. I tried it again about an hour after release, and I was then being sent to Level3.
Suffice to say, Apple is now using three CDNs.
Akamai's footprint exceeds 100k servers worldwide now, and that's just what they publicly disclose. It is likely more if you count in their DoD contracts. They're probably on par with Google now.
The article was quite good until it started making comparisons of Catholics and Protestants to Apple collecting 30% for all sales through their store.
It's like the author just gave up and couldn't figure out a way to end the article.
The Fremont datacenter, if I remember correctly, is at Hurricane Electric. They had power issues in 2009 as well.
http://blog.feedly.com/2009/11/03/24-minutes-of-unscheduled-...