Commons Host: Building a CDN for the rest of the world

Recorded presentations of these slides:

- Nodeconf.eu @ 2018-11-07
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gEhiyhzbaU8

- Geekcamp.sg @ 2019-01-05
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P8eOJygqAhw

Transcript

1. https://commons.host @sebdeckers Commons Host Commons Host
2. https://commons.host @sebdeckers Commons Host Sebastiaan Deckers Indie hacker living in $ @sebdeckers
3. https://commons.host @sebdeckers Commons Host I ❤ JavaScript
 I ❤ FOSS
 I ❤ Open Standards
4. https://commons.host @sebdeckers Commons Host 2016 &
 Experimenting with SPDY & HTTP/2
5. https://commons.host @sebdeckers Commons Host 2017 
 Contributing to
 require('http2')
6. https://commons.host @sebdeckers Commons Host 2018 Building a
 100% FOSS CDN
7. https://commons.host @sebdeckers Commons Host 20+ PoPs in 6 months all hosted by sponsors
8. https://commons.host @sebdeckers Commons Host Open hardware:
 Odroid ARM µ-servers
9. https://commons.host @sebdeckers Commons Host Deploy a Static Site npx @commonshost/cli deploy
10. https://commons.host @sebdeckers Commons Host
11. https://commons.host @sebdeckers Commons Host Let's Encrypt for Custom Domains npx @commonshost/cli deploy --domain example.com (Point the DNS record for "example.com" to "commons.host")
12. https://commons.host @sebdeckers Commons Host HTTP/2 Server Push npx @commonshost/manifest generate
13. https://commons.host @sebdeckers Commons Host RTFM https://help.commons.host
14. https://commons.host @sebdeckers Commons Host My story starts about 10 years ago in Singapore
15. https://commons.host @sebdeckers Commons Host Typical internet access: DSL/cable
16. https://commons.host @sebdeckers Commons Host No datacentres No internet exchanges
17. https://commons.host @sebdeckers Commons Host Servers far away, mostly USA or Europe. RTT 250ms+
18. https://commons.host @sebdeckers Commons Host Singapore today...
19. https://commons.host @sebdeckers Commons Host 1 Gbps FTTH for <1% of median monthly family income
20. https://commons.host @sebdeckers Commons Host Many DCs & IXs
21. https://commons.host @sebdeckers Commons Host ~1-2ms RTT to most CDNs
22. https://commons.host @sebdeckers Commons Host
23. https://commons.host @sebdeckers Commons Host 1 2 4.5 billion billion billion
24. https://commons.host @sebdeckers Dawn of the Hybrid CDN FTTx "73% of the world’s FTTx subscribers [...] in the Asia-Pacific region."
25. https://commons.host @sebdeckers Commons Host Fibre installed by default in new property developments. FTTH available in most cities in CJK, SEA, and India
26. https://commons.host @sebdeckers Commons Host DCs and IXs still expensive.
27. https://commons.host @sebdeckers Commons Host BKK SGN JKT MNL KUL RGN SIN HKG TYO Not enough glass in the water. Traffic mostly via peering in SIN/HKG/TYO.
28. https://commons.host @sebdeckers Commons Host The Internet is a concept, not a thing.
29. https://commons.host @sebdeckers Commons Host What is peering? Networks talking directly to each other. Internet: Interconnected Networks
30. https://commons.host @sebdeckers Commons Host Free vs Paid Peering Not all networks are created equal.
31. https://commons.host @sebdeckers Commons Host Peering reduces network distance. Lower latency. Higher bandwidth. Lower cost.
32. https://commons.host @sebdeckers Commons Host The real world is lumpy. Just way too many networks
 De facto/jure monopolies Systemic barriers to entry
33. https://commons.host @sebdeckers Commons Host UTH - BKK - SIN vs UTH - BKK - SIN - SJC - SIN
34. https://commons.host @sebdeckers Commons Host Internet Exchanges (IX) Middlemen between networks Carrier neutral Network effect
35. https://commons.host @sebdeckers Commons Host Traditional Approach:
 Put a cache at every IX.
36. https://commons.host @sebdeckers Commons Host Ideal Solution: Put a cache at every ISP.
37. https://commons.host @sebdeckers Commons Host Think big. 561 urban agglomerations >1,000,000 population 63,483 BGP-active ASNs,
 upper bound of ISPs in the world 1,064 urban areas >500,000 population 53% of the world
38. https://commons.host @sebdeckers Commons Host Start small. $200 per server affordable by individuals Static Sites
 low CPU/RAM/IO requirements 1 Gbps per server enough to saturate FTTH
39. https://commons.host @sebdeckers Commons Host Move fast. 20+ locations in first 6 months Automation deploy a new server in minutes
40. https://commons.host @sebdeckers Commons Host Leverage 3 major
 commoditised technologies: JavaScript FTTH ARM
41. https://commons.host @sebdeckers Commons Host 1. JavaScript Node.js: fast low-level internals for HTTP/2, crypto, compression, I/O, ... NPM: Standing on the shoulders of giants.
42. https://commons.host @sebdeckers Commons Host 2. FTTH
43. https://commons.host @sebdeckers Commons Host 1-10 Gbps/unit ... were like these? What if these...
44. https://commons.host @sebdeckers Commons Host 3. ARM
45. https://commons.host @sebdeckers Commons Host Intel Xeon vs Qualcomm Centriq
 performance-per-Watt
 2:1
46. https://commons.host @sebdeckers Commons Host Déja vu...
47. https://commons.host @sebdeckers Commons Host 20 years ago,
 in 1998...
48. https://commons.host @sebdeckers Commons Host
49. https://commons.host @sebdeckers Commons Host Commodity Hardware
 Intel Pentium II Donated by Intel Big Idea: "Not absolute performance, but best performance per dollar."
50. https://commons.host @sebdeckers Commons Host Today, in 2018...
51. https://commons.host @sebdeckers Commons Host
52. https://commons.host @sebdeckers Commons Host Intel Xeon is the expensive, power-hungry, king of absolute server performance ARM is the
 new commodity hardware
 thanks to a huge
 mobile processor market
53. https://commons.host @sebdeckers Commons Host Best price/performance:
 Last year's mobile CPU!
 Considered obsolete, unsellable in consumer market.
54. https://commons.host @sebdeckers Commons Host Solid state chip inventory does not wear out, nor expire. Due to huge volumes,
 production surplus can be large.
55. https://commons.host @sebdeckers Commons Host Bunnie Huang: Individual Shenzhen electronics mall shops with more chip inventory than all of North America.
56. https://commons.host @sebdeckers Commons Host Market Trends Servers Desktops Mobile
57. https://commons.host @sebdeckers Commons Host Shipments Server Desktop Laptop Tablet Phone 1,472 164 161 98 11 133x
58. https://commons.host @sebdeckers Commons Host >100 billion ARM processors
59. https://commons.host @sebdeckers Commons Host >95% of mobile processors
60. https://commons.host @sebdeckers Commons Host Not just Intel vs AMD:
 Competition within ARM ecosystem
61. https://commons.host @sebdeckers Commons Host Hardware accelerated crypto. HTTP/2 web traffic is 100% TLS.
62. https://commons.host @sebdeckers Commons Host Back to CDN servers...
63. https://commons.host @sebdeckers Commons Host
64. https://commons.host @sebdeckers Commons Host Goal: To create the closest to the in the largest CDN, most people, shortest time.
65. https://commons.host @sebdeckers Commons Host Growing the network Distributed ownership of physical infrastructure.
66. https://commons.host @sebdeckers Commons Host Lower hardware cost Spare servers, Raspberry Pi, Docker/VMs, etc.
67. https://commons.host @sebdeckers Commons Host Self-Hosted CDN Deployed private CDN on-premises
68. https://commons.host @sebdeckers Commons Host Marketplace Content Publishers pay — Server Hosts earn. Incentives for hosts worldwide to invest in hardware and networks. Large content publishers can reach otherwise impossible audiences.
69. https://commons.host @sebdeckers Commons Host One more thing...
70. https://commons.host @sebdeckers Commons Host DNS over HTTPS New way to secure DNS against tampering, censorship, snooping, etc.
71. https://commons.host @sebdeckers Commons Host DNS over HTTPS DNS over long-lived, low bandwidth, HTTP/2 connections.
72. https://commons.host @sebdeckers Commons Host DNS over HTTPS More servers = lower latency More users = better cache hit ratio
73. https://commons.host @sebdeckers Commons Host DNS over HTTPS Playdoh & Dohnut
74. https://commons.host @sebdeckers Commons Host "How hard can it be?" Kenny Shen
 @machinesung Overnight implementation based on require('dns-packet') Zero to production in 10 days.
75. https://commons.host @sebdeckers Commons Host Playdoh Public DoH on all Commons Host CDN edge servers. Independent, no censorship, no logging.
76. https://commons.host @sebdeckers Commons Host Try DoH with Firefox:
77. https://commons.host @sebdeckers Commons Host Dohnut DNS to DNS over HTTPS
78. https://commons.host @sebdeckers Commons Host
79. https://commons.host @sebdeckers Commons Host Use HTTP/2 AltSvc to announce nearby DoH servers. Use HTTP/2 PING to measure fastest DoH servers.
80. https://commons.host @sebdeckers Commons Host 2nd Tier DoH-only edge servers No storage required. Run on Raspberry Pi?
81. https://commons.host @sebdeckers Commons Host I need your help...
82. https://commons.host @sebdeckers Commons Host I need your help... Use Publish websites Translate documentation Report bugs Request features
83. https://commons.host @sebdeckers Commons Host I need your help... Use Publish websites Translate documentation Report bugs Request features Host Deploy an edge PoP,
 at your home or office. Especially in developing urban areas.
84. https://commons.host @sebdeckers Commons Host Use Publish websites Translate documentation Report bugs Request features Host Deploy an edge PoP,
 at your home or office. Especially in developing urban areas. Fund Buy a PoP server, for yourself or for placement at a willing remote host.
85. https://commons.host @sebdeckers Commons Host Use Publish websites Translate documentation Report bugs Request features Host Deploy an edge PoP,
 at your home or office. Especially in developing urban areas. Fund Buy a PoP server, for yourself or for placement at a willing remote host. Share Tell a Friend
86. https://commons.host @sebdeckers Commons Host Think big. Start small. Move fast. Commons Host