Virtual Edge CDN Proposal
The use of content distribution networks (CDNs) is the de facto standard to distribute all sorts of media worldwide at scale. Their inherent capability to sustain DDoS makes them appealing to organizations that do not have to worry about their infrastructure being attacked.
However, CDNs, which are normally operated by US based companies, are now facing an increasing scrutiny over their practises. With the advent of GDPR, organizations are now liable if they do not comply with data protection laws; and since these providers are non-UE based, they tend to operate in a non-compliant fashion, and therefore putting the organizations that use them at risk.
Recent events, such as with INE’s use of Cloudflare’s CDN, illustrate the lack of an alternative solution that respects EU sovereignty and is able to perform effectively at reduced costs.
In this PhD proposal, we aim to explore the use of edge computing in tandem with regular cloud to leverage costs while maintaining QoS and QoE, with security and privacy by design, by extending previous work on Iris*.
For that we propose the following work plan:
a) Study and propose novel optimizations algorithms that lower costs while maintaining streaming quality, including the use of Linear optimization, and ML.
b) Study the use of current decentralized infrastructure, such as IPFS, to support/implement hybrid architectures that leverage centralized public clouds, private infrastructure, and edge devices.
c) Study and implement security mechanisms to provide secure storage, attestation, audit trail, and reward mechanisms for end-users.
d) Study and implement the necessary privacy algorithms to ensure data protection is enforced and well all the related supporting processes.
e) Deploy the proposed solution at scale.
Funding: Immediately available
Project Context:
This proposal will be part of the research efforts of THEIA – Automated Perception Driving, a P2020 project with an overall funding of 28M€ that aims to securely use autonomous vehicles' sensor data to improve perception and ultimately decision making for the next generation autonomous driving.
https://portugal2020.pt/projeto-theia-vai-melhorar-carros-inteligentes/
References:
https://upin.up.pt/pt-pt/tecnologias/iris-secure-reliable-live-streaming (PT patent, US and Europe pending)
Exame Informática, February Edition (upcoming) https://ipfs.io/
Advisor:
Prof. Dr. Rolando Martins
Faculty of Sciences, University of Porto
Co-advisor:
Prof. Dr. Luís Antunes
Faculty of Sciences, University of Porto Hosting
Faculty of Sciences, University of Porto External Reviewer:
Prof. Dr. Luís Veiga IST/INESC-ID
