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To: Jim Parkinson who wrote (4207)	8/10/1998 11:35:00 AM
From: Sawtooth	Respond to of 10852

More Internet via sat; apologies if previously posted: August 03, 1998, Issue: 726 Section: News & Analysis -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Satellite Web Service Improves Int'l Access Salvatore Salamone It's not hard to make Web content available to a wide range of users at an affordable price-if they're in the United States. But what if users are in developing countries where desktop Internet access is a rarity? Later this year, Teleglobe Communications Corp. and Intelsat will conduct a technology demo of a multicast Web content caching system that could make it easier and more economical for users in developing countries to view Web-based information. The Multicast Internet Caching and Replication System is based on a warehouse-kiosk networking architecture, in which content is stored on centralized warehouse servers and distributed using multicast satellite broadcasts to service provider kiosks around the world. Under the new architecture, international ISPs can cache frequently requested Web content via a shared satellite communications system, eliminating the cost of expensive dedicated links. A Unique Approach The system will initially use a non-IP-based multicast technol-ogy from StarBurst Communications Corp. A&T Systems Inc. will provide systems integration. This approach is unique, according to industry experts. "Most of the satellite-based approaches to giving users access to U.S.-based Web content have focused on the cost of the bandwidth to get that content to a user in a developing country," said Raymond Lopez, a consultant at Rosewall and Associates, a consulting firm that designs and installs remote access systems. "But none have really addressed packaging content with such delivery services in a systematic way." With the new system, which is based on Layer 4 switching technology, all of an ISP's end-user HTTP traffic can be directed to the local kiosk's cache. If the content requested by the user is not stored in that cache, "the request is routed back to the Internet," said Ibraz Anwar, project director at A&T Systems. Each kiosk will be able to collect information on Web site hits as well as information about user data requests. This information will be shared with the warehouse, enabling it to cache sites automatically that suddenly get many user requests, said Bob Collet, vice president and general manager of GlobeInternet, Teleglobe's data services division. One idea is for the warehouse to cache content of frequently requested and popular sites and classify it into what Anwar calls channels. These channels would then be made available to kiosk operators. Details of how to package such services have not been set, according to Collet. Teleglobe and Intelsat also will offer some real-time broadcast content services. The business model of the Teleglobe-Intelsat offerings hasn't yet been determined. The companies will start beta testing this fall; the first commercial services will be available in mid-1999. Copyright r 1998 CMP Media Inc.