NWS Experiences in Outsourcing Web Content Delivery

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NWS Experiences in Outsourcing Web Content
Delivery

• Robert Bunge
• NWS OCIO
• 11/2/05

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The Problem

• Much NOAA web data is subject to flash crowds
• Options
• NOAA can build out infrastructure in-house for
  peak traffic
• Out source hosting to commercial vendor
• Out source content delivery to vendor

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CDN Solution

• Out source to content delivery vendor
• Content Delivery Network (CDN)
• Not hosting
• CDNs cache your content store and forward
• Used by NWS for National Hurricane Center since
  2003
• Used for other NWS websites in 2005

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NWS use of CDNs

• First use 2003 National Hurricane Center for
  hurricane Isabel
• Month long experiment with weather.gov, 2004
• Continued use with NHC through current
• Week long test with weather.gov, summer, 2005
  different vendor
• Switch of weather.gov during hurricane Rita

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Moving Weather.gov to a CDN
Transfer of weather.gov traffic from origin
servers to a CDN (Mirror Image Internet) during
hurricane Rita.
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Controlling Content on the CDN

• CDNs cache your content on their system
• They expire the content based on
• A generic rule that you provide
• Obeying cache headers that your web server
  provides
• Good idea to use cache headers anyway
• AOL
• Browsers
• Corporate proxies

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A Normal Cache Control Headers
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Summary

• NWS has found CDNs to be effective
• Allow NWS to focus on mission and content
• No sweat or worry over flash crowds
• Rapid capacity increase for a single web server
  based website
• Don't have to engage in a technology war with
  users, increased broadband, more graphically
  oriented NOAA content
• Still control content production, php scripts,
  cgi's and the core server environment
• Down side up front
• Down side unpredictable spending of during
  flash crowds