Gaming CDN Local Network for GameNets

1. Overview

A Content Delivery Network (CDN) accelerates the distribution of game downloads, patches, and media by caching content at edge locations closer to end users. A local CDN deployment within GameNets facilities or partner ISPs can greatly reduce latency and backbone bandwidth usage.

2. Architecture

The local CDN consists of three main layers:

1. Origin Servers: The master repository of game packages and updates, located in central data centers.
2. Regional Edge Nodes: Mid-tier caches that synchronize with origin servers and feed local nodes.
3. Local Edge Caches: Servers deployed within Internet Service Providers or GameNets PoPs, serving players directly.

3. Content Synchronization

Edge caches use incremental file synchronization to stay up-to-date without redownloading entire packages. A typical workflow:

rsync -avz --delete \
  origin.example.net:/games/updates/ \
  /var/cache/gamecdn/updates/
    

4. Load Balancing & Failover

• DNS-based routing: Player clients resolve to the nearest available local edge IP via GCPS or Anycast.
• Health checks: Edge nodes periodically report status; unhealthy nodes are removed from rotation.
• Automatic fallback: If a local cache is unreachable, clients seamlessly connect to a regional edge.

5. Monitoring & Analytics

Key metrics to track:

• Cache hit ratio
• Average download throughput (Mbps)
• Node health and uptime
• Origin sync latency

These can be visualized via Prometheus + Grafana dashboards, for example:

# example Prometheus scrape config
- job_name: 'local-cache'
  static_configs:
    - targets: ['cache1.local:9100','cache2.local:9100']
    

6. Security & Access Control

To protect content and infrastructure:

• Isolate CDN nodes in a dedicated VPC or VLAN.
• Use mTLS for synchronization channels between origin and edge.
• Implement IP allowlists for management interfaces.
• Encrypt data at rest on cache disks.

7. Scaling Strategy

Start with a small footprint in each region and grow based on demand:

1. Deploy 2–4 local nodes per major city or ISP PoP.
2. Monitor performance under peak load (major patch releases).
3. Automate provisioning with infrastructure-as-code (Terraform, Ansible).

8. Legal & Compliance

All information here is publicly documented network architecture best practices. Ensure you comply with data-protection regulations (e.g., GDPR) when collecting usage metrics.