This past month Amazon sent me an early Christmas present, their very own content deliver network (CDN). Adding to their already robust line of “cloud” offerings, Amazon Cloudfront brings edge server routing to the mix. I have been using Amazon S3 for static content delivery since my most recent hello world. Cloudfront takes the highly scalable and redundant S3 and puts it closer to the end user, thus distributing throughput and reducing latency.

When it comes to web development, one of my driving forces is performance. I love seeking out and shaving milliseconds off page loads and network requests. One of the best ways to do this is to put the content as close to the source as possible. Content Delivery Networks do just that. If my viewers are in Asia, I don’t want my server in New York and vise versa. With a CDN data is cached at several geographically optimized locations as needed. When a request comes in, it is routed to the nearest location.

The quickest route to the Jungle

A good tool to analyze network routing, latency and a bunch of other stuff is pingplotter. They have a free version and pro version. The free version works great for my purposes. Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP) Pings are a lightweight and predictable way to provide insight on latency and network conditions. Here is a comparison of my routes between Amazon Cloudfront and my standard web server.

As you can see, with Cloudfront I scream right to Amazons Newark, NJ server as apposed to going through McClean, VA, then ATL, and finally to my server in Dallas, TX.

How Cloudfront performs in the CDN storm

Pingplotter works great to determine *your* route and latency.

Just-ping.com provides a great way to test your host/cdn from many geographic locations at once.

Disclaimer: The below analysis was put together to illustrate a general concept. Accuracy and real world conditions will vary.

.	Geographic Location	Single Web Server	Amazon Cloudfront	Akamai	LimeLight

. Florida, U.S.A. 34.4 29.4 36.5 36.9 . Chicago, U.S.A. 34.5 6.6 19 1.3 . San Francisco, U.S.A. 43.6 2.2 3.6 2 . New York, U.S.A. 43.9 5 8.9 6.6 . Santa Clara, U.S.A. 47.1 3.9 2.8 6.9 . Vancouver, Canada 73 52 4.5 95.6 . Austin1, U.S.A. 102.4 38.1 5.2 76.3 . Austin, U.S.A. 102.7 38.1 5.3 76.4 . London, United Kingdom 108 13.2 1.8 1.6 . Amsterdam3, Netherlands 114.3 19.9 0.7 7.4 . Amsterdam2, Netherlands 115.8 20.6 1.5 8.1 . Amsterdam, Netherlands 118.6 0.9 0.5 0.7 . Lille, France 120.3 12.9 14.2 110.9 . Munchen, Germany 129.1 7.6 10.2 7.7 . Zurich, Switzerland 130.8 10.6 2.8 25.7 . Cologne, Germany 131.8 9 5 20.4 . Groningen, Netherlands 133 4.3 5.7 4.3 . Copenhagen, Denmark 137.9 15.6 4.1 25.3 . Antwerp, Belgium 139.7 5.5 4.2 4.4 . Stockholm, Sweden 142 32.7 5 23.6

. Madrid, Spain 142.4 45.2 2.5 25.1 . Paris, France 149.9 8.3 17.5 1.4 . Cagliari, Italy 165.5 30.1 29.5 30.4 . Auckland, New Zealand 173.7 159.8 1.1 161.4 . Krakow, Poland 174.1 31 8.8 43.6 . Haifa, Israel 177.9 78.1 0.5 64.5 . Porto Alegre, Brazil 179.1 149.9 30.2 169.9 . Nagano, Japan 185.8 4.8 13.1 4.7 . Sydney, Australia 204.8 159.2 3.3 166.2 . Hong Kong, China 206.8 2.3 2.2 65.6 . Melbourne, Australia 207.6 177.9 1.7 166.6 . Singapore, Singapore 238.7 137.1 13.3 3.5 . Shanghai, China 249.1 153.5 308.3 87 . Mumbai, India 280.3 259.1 1.6 263.5 . Johannesburg, South Africa 304.8 293.2 19.3 274.7 . Average (miliseconds) 144.1 57.65 16.98 59.15

Setting up and configuring Amazon Cloudfront

Setup was super easy with the latest S3 Organizer Firefox Add-on. You can also complete the setup with a Curl Script.

Are you sick of playing target practice with your remote controls?

I tried several “remote control extenders”. Most of them relayed the infrared signal from one room to another. You still had to point the remote at the sensor and in most cases aim it. When I stumbled across the Next Generation Remote Control Extender I was skeptical. “You put the what where?” Yes… you put a Radio Frequency (RF) transmitter in place of one of the batteries in your Infrared (IR) remote. Don’t ask me how the thing works, but it transmits the signal to the odd looking receiver in the other room. At first I thought the receiver was battery powered. But it comes with an AC Adapter and actually charges the second smaller battery that powers the transmitter. This way you always have a battery ready to go, brilliant.

I am currently using Microsoft’s Media Center Remote Control and Keyboard with it and that they both work WAY better. I was on the verge or replacing the keyboard because you really had to point it to have fluid mouse movements. Now both remotes work on command and flawless in any room in my house!

Pros:

• Super easy to setup.
• Works like any RF remote, no direct line of sight required, thought walls – up to 100′ away
• 433.92 MHz – seems like a good frequency with little or no perceived interference.

Cons:

• I have heard it doesn’t work with all remotes, but it has worked with ever one I have tried.
• Battery doesn’t last long with one battery remotes.

Conclusion:

The technology and engineering behind this device is award winning. It does exactly what it claims to do, convert almost any IR remote to RF. I have been using it for about a month with great success!

Get yours here:

After a week of listening, these speakers definitely fit the bill. The imaging and balance is amazing. I had never heard of Swans or the new holding company HiVi. They have built their reputation with the slightly more expensive M200 model. From what I understand; what they lack in customer support, they more than make up for in build and sound quality. So far I have not had to use their customer support channels, but I have been thoroughly enjoying listening to these speakers. The sound is truly amazing.

Pros:

• Build Quality – These things are solid.
• Sound Quality – They are not true monitors, but have a balanced and for the most part accurate sound. If you are looking for big boomy bass, these are not the speakers. If you like Jazz, you are in for a treat.
• Packaging – First class packing all the way. They even come in cloth bags, to protect them from scratches.
• Interface – The back of the speaker has RCA connections for easy speaker extensions and stereo hookups. They include a stereo RCA to 3.5 mm Minijack plug.

Cons:

• Volume control on sub-woofer – This is not necessarily a negative if the speakers are used as intended.

Summary:

If you are looking for a close range desktop speaker system, these are a great option. The highs are amazingly crisp, the mids are nicely filled in and the lows are adequate and pronounced.