Pando Networks

Pando Networks
Company typePrivate
IndustryPeer Assisted Media Distribution
Founded2004
Headquarters
New York, New York
,
United States
Key people
Robert Levitan (CEO and co-founder)
Yaron Samid (CMO, Co-Founder)
Avi Cohen (COO)
Laird Popkin (CTO and co-founder)
ProductsPando consumer application
ServicesPeer-assisted media distribution for game, software and video publishers
ParentMicrosoft Corporation
Websitepandonetworks.com[dead link]

Founded in 2004 in New York City, Pando Networks was a managed peer-to-peer (P2P) media distribution company backed by Intel Capital, BRM Capital and Wheatley Partners.[1] The company specialized in cloud distribution of games, video and software for publishers and media distributors and also operated a freemium consumer business for sending large files.[2]

Pando Network's technology was based on BitTorrent but with modifications. Its hybrid P2P- and server-based network included central control over file distribution, intelligent throttling between peers and servers, reporting/analytics and security.

In the spring of 2006, the company publicly launched Pando, a small application that let consumers bypass email's attachment limits and send large files (up to 1GB) regardless of email service provider.[3] By late May 2009, over 30 million people had installed the Pando application.[4]

In late 2007, along with Verizon Communications, Pando Networks co-founded the P4P (“Proactive network Provider Participation for P2P”) Working Group, to serve both P2P companies and Internet service providers (ISPs), who were seeing as much of 70 percent of bandwidth go to P2P traffic.[5] The P4P working group includes a mix of more than 50 P2P companies and ISPs including Telefónica and Comcast. A Yale computer science research team developed the P4P technical protocol, which they believed could speed P2P content delivery while lowering ISP network utilization.[6] In collaboration with Yale and the P4P working group, Pando Networks adopted the technology and Laird Popkin coordinated a test in the summer of 2008, showing promising results.[7][8][9]

The company released its first commercial service in May 2008; media distributors could now plug Pando Networks' peer cloud into their existing content delivery networks (CDNs). The combination of a peer cloud plus a CDN allows files in high demand to be quickly and cost effectively delivered by the peers and long tail content to be reliably served off the CDN.[10]

NBC Universal incorporated Pando Networks’ technology later that year to deliver high-definition TV episodes to consumers’ PCs.[11]

The game industry was Pando Networks’ largest customer segment. Installation files, particularly for massively multiplayer online games (MMOs), can reach well over 1GB. Pando Networks' game customers included Nexon,[12] Turbine, Riot Games, Gala-Net, and LevelUp.[13] In May 2010, Pando Networks surpassed 30 million game downloads. [14]

Pando Networks was acquired by Microsoft in March 2013.[15]

  1. ^ "Intel Capital leads funding for Pando Networks". sanjose.bizjournals.com. May 15, 2006.
  2. ^ Mossberg, Walter S; Boehret, Katherine (July 12, 2006). "An Easier Way to Send Large Email Attachments". The Wall Street Journal.
  3. ^ Kelly, David A. (June 29, 2006). "Video Catching Up to Photos When It Comes to Sharing". The New York Times. Retrieved October 17, 2010.
  4. ^ Plessner, Andy (May 23, 2009). "Beet.TV: Pando Has P2P Distribution for Major Video Game Publishers". beet.tv. Retrieved October 16, 2010.
  5. ^ Menon, Anuradha (June 27, 2008). "P4P – Next Generation P2P". thefutureofthings.com.
  6. ^ "Yale Computer Scientists Devise a "P4P" System for Efficient Internet Usage". opa.yale.edu. May 27, 2008. Archived from the original on September 23, 2008. Retrieved October 18, 2010.
  7. ^ Jonietz, Erika (November 17, 2009). "P4P Remodels File Sharing". technologyreview.com.
  8. ^ Paul, Ryan (March 14, 2008). "Verizon embraces P4P, a more efficient peer-to-peer tech". arstechnica.com.
  9. ^ Anderson, Nate (November 3, 2008). "Comcastic P4P trial shows 80% speed boost for P2P downloads". arstechnica.com.
  10. ^ Cohen, Reuven (October 6, 2008). "Cloud Computing & Content Delivery Networks – Web 2.0 Journal". web2.sys-con.com.
  11. ^ Glazowski, Paul (February 7, 2008). "NBC Direct To Get a Reboot With Help From Pando". mashable.com.
  12. ^ Alexander, Leigh (March 5, 2009). "Nexon America Chooses Pando For Content Delivery". gamasutra.com. Retrieved October 16, 2010.
  13. ^ "More Game Companies Select Pando Networks to Optimize Game Downloads". tmcnet.com. September 16, 2009.
  14. ^ Vance, Jeff (September 30, 2010). "7 Hot Cloud Computing Innovations". datamation.com.
  15. ^ "Microsoft Acquires Pando – Next Xbox Uses Rumoured – TheSixthAxis". 14 March 2013. Retrieved 2020-12-04.