Showing posts with label limelight. Show all posts
Showing posts with label limelight. Show all posts

Monday, April 4, 2011

OpenDNS and Google DNS slow your iTunes Store and Apple TV



According to Joe Maller, if you find your downloads from the iTunes Store or the Apple TV a little slow, perhaps the fault of the DNS servers you use. Google DNS or OpenDNS are often faster than the DNS provided by your ISP, but their actual operation may cause problems with the iTunes Store.

Apple has indeed hired the services of Akamai and Limelight, systems, content distribution servers that have around the world: you download and the server nearest to you, and the mass downloads is spread over a vast network.

It is quite possible OpenDNS and Google DNS, central services, direct all their users to a single same data center of NSC, causing them to overload and thus slower speeds. The problem is not confined, moreover, not to the iTunes Store means any service using a CDN discriminate against users based on their geographic location will have this kind of problem with Google DNS and OpenDNS: it will be for example the case of YouTube or many services software downloads, including one built into Mac OS X.