Caching service has int'l flair

CAMBRIDGE, MASS. -Adero, a new service provider, is about to launch a caching service that will let customers bring their Web site content closer to Web surfers around the world.

Adero, a start-up based in Cambridge, Mass., is expected to officially launch its AderoWorld caching service next week.

AderoWorld will let customers replicate part or all of their Web site content on servers in 19 countries, including South Africa, Australia and Italy.

Adero is equipping its data centers, which will reside in 30 countries by year-end, with Sun servers running Inktomi's Traffic Server and WebSpective's caching and tracking software. Adero is dividing its 19 networked data centers into five regions. Customers can choose to have their content cached in just one region, or all five.

Customers that subscribe to the AderoWorld service simply need to make a change to their Domain Name System that will allow the server to replicate its content onto AderoWorld's Web servers around the world. Users access the replicated data locally via a Web browser.

Users today can buy caching services from ISPs such as Cable & Wireless and Digex, or from Web hosting companies such as Exodus Communications and Digital Island, which use Inktomi's caching technology. Users can also opt to go with a service provider that specializes in caching and replication services, such as Sandpiper Networks, Sky-Cache, and now Adero.

What's different about Adero is that the firm is primarily focused on bringing its content closer to users overseas, says Ullas Naik, senior vice president of research at First Albany, a consultancy in Albany, N.Y. Competitors such as Exodus and Sandpiper have more of a domestic focus when it comes to caching and replicating Web content. Adero says that while the Internet in the U.S. has its fair share of bottlenecks, the Internet overseas typically has more.

Latency in international markets is huge compared with the U.S., Naik says. It's not uncommon for users in some areas of Europe to wait 5 to 6 seconds for one page to load, he says. Bringing content closer to users is expected to reduce the amount of time it takes a Web surfer to download content, which is important when you're trying to sell merchandise over the Internet.

But Adero's international edge will last only a few months because just about every service provider that offers Web hosting services, from AT&T to Exodus, is expanding its international reach.

Before year-end Adero is also expected to roll out the second version of its AderoWorld service, which will include its GeoTraffic Manager, says Rob Carney, co-founder and director of sales at Adero. GeoTraffic Manager will intelligently route Web surfers to the Web server that is closest to them based on their IP address.

Digital Island announced a similar service this week that it calls TraceWare. TraceWare, which costs about $2,000 per month in addition to standard monthly Web hosting costs, is also designed to determine the fastest way to deliver Web content to Web surfers based on their domain name registration.

Adero has received $8 million in funding from Fidelity Ventures and M/C Venture Partners since the company was created in 1998.

The AderoWorld service and its monthly rates are expected to be available next week.

Adero: www.adero.com