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How is my usage measured and billed with MetaCDN?

James
  • Updated

Overview

The purpose of this document is to explain how MetaCDN measures and bills your usage of the MetaCDN platform. The MetaCDN pricing page is available here, which gives the charging rates of each component of the MetaCDN service. We endeavour to be as transparent as possible regarding how you are billed, so you only pay for precisely what you use. The current pricing list (as of 23/1/2013) is displayed below:

meta-pricing.png

Data transfer in

Data transfer in is free of charge on the MetaCDN platform. It is measured in gigabytes (GB). You generate data in usage on the MetaCDN platform under the following circumstances:

  • You upload a Content file to MetaCDN (e.g. a static file such as a PDF). MetaCDN then replicates (uploads) that content to several locations across our global network of Points of Presence (PoPs). Find out more about deploying Content here.
  • You upload a Media file to MetaCDN (e.g. a video file such as an MP4, or an audio file such as an MP3). MetaCDN uploads the file to our media encoding cloud, generates compressed and optimised versions of that media file and uploads the compressed versions to several locations across our global network of Points of Presence (PoPs). Find out more about deploying Media here.
  • You have deployed a an accelerated Site, and MetaCDN caches (retrieves) files from your origin website on-demand to store on our global network of Points of Presence (PoP), so they are ready for rapid delivery to your customers. Find out more about accelerating Sites here.

Data transfer out

Data transfer out is measured based on the region the Points of Presence (PoP) is located in when transferring data to an end-user. It is measured purely in gigabytes (GB) transferred. MetaCDN automatically selects a PoP that is close to the user to deliver the file. For example, a customer on the east coast of Australia would be optimally served from our PoPs in Sydney. The amount of data transferred would be measured in gigabytes and charged at the Asia-Pacific rate. A customer in North America who downloaded a file from a PoP in Los Angeles would be charged at the standard data out rate. You can generate data out usage on the MetaCDN platform under the following circumstances:

  • A customer downloads a Content file hosted by MetaCDN
  • A customer downloads or streams a Media file hosted via MetaCDN
  • A customer is delivered content from a Site accelerated by MetaCDN
Here are some worked examples for data transfer out:
  • A customer downloads a large document file from MetaCDN. The customer is located in New Jersey, USA, and is the file is delivered from a PoP in New York, USA. The file is 2.7GB in size. Data transfer would be charged at the standard rate ($0.10 per GB), so this download would cost $0.27 (27 cents).
  • A customer streams a HD movie clip from MetaCDN. The customer is located in Singapore, and is the file is delivered from a PoP in Singapore. The movie clip is 0.5 GB in size. Data transfer would be charged at the standard rate ($0.14 per GB), so this stream would cost $0.07 (7 cents).

Storage

Data storage is measured at a flat rate regardless of what region the data is stored. Usage is measured in the industry standard format of gigabyte months (GB-months). The amount of storage charged in a month is based on the average storage used throughout the month, computed on an hourly basis (in byte hours). Each time we take a measurement, we record the cumulative size all static Content files and Media files stored in your account. You can generate storage usage on the MetaCDN platform under the following circumstances:

  • You upload a Content file to MetaCDN (e.g. a static file such as a PDF. MetaCDN then replicates (uploads) and stores that content to several origin locations across our global network of Points of Presence (PoPs).
  • You upload a Media file to MetaCDN (e.g. a video file such as an MP4, or an audio file such as an MP3). MetaCDN uploads the file to our media encoding cloud, generates compressed and optimised versions of that media file and uploads and stores the original and compressed versions to several origin locations across our global network of Points of Presence (PoPs).
Here is a worked example for data storage:

Assume you store 100GB (107,374,182,400 bytes) of data consisting of content and media files in your account for 15 days in January, and 50GB (53,687,091,200 bytes) data for the final 16 days in January.

At the end of January, you would have the following usage in Byte-Hours:
Total Byte-Hour usage
= [107,374,182,400 bytes x 15 days x (24 hours / day)] + [53,687,091,200 bytes x 16 days x (24 hours / day)] = 59,270,548,684,800 Byte-Hours.

Let’s convert this to GB-Months:
59,270,548,684,800 Byte-Hours x (1 GB / 1,073,741,824 bytes) x (1 month / 744 hours) = 74.19 GB-Months

The total monthly storage fee is calculated below:

74.19 GB * $0.12 = $8.90

 

Encoding

Media (video or auto) encoding is measured in gigabytes (GB). Usage is measured in an industry standard format, which calculates the sum of the sizes (in GB) of your input video and any output videos that are generated in the encoding process. This is a one time charge per video for processing your input video into the output video formats and qualities required for streaming over our content delivery network to your end-users. You can find out more about this process here. You can generate encoding usage on the MetaCDN platform under the following circumstances:

  • You upload a new media file for encoding and select your preferred output format and qualities. Your input video will be encoded and generates a number of output video files depending on your settings.
  • You edit an existing media file and add additional video formats and/or qualities. Your input video will be encoded and generates the additional output video files depending that you requested.
Here is a worked example for encoding:
  • You upload an input video file (a 2.0GB 1080p MP4) to MetaCDN, and use the default settings to request a low (360p SD), medium (480p SD)  and high quality (720p HD) MP4. MetaCDN uploads the file to our media encoding cloud, and generates compressed and optimised versions of that media file as requested. The small MP4 is 0.25GB, the medium MP4 is 0.50GB and the large MP4 is 0.75GB. So, the total billable one time charge for encoding this video is 2.0GB (input files) + 0.25GB + 0.50GB + 0.75GB (output files) = 3.5GB = $3.50

Data Requests

HTTP GET requests (i.e. download requests) are generated each time an end-user accesses your MetaCDN hosted content. Data requests are measured in aggregate on a per 10,000 request basis. For the vast majority of MetaCDN customers, this would represent a negligible amount of their monthly bill. 

Here are a worked examples for data requests:

  • You have uploaded a Content file, that has been download 1,000,000 (1 million) times during the month. The total cost for these requests for the month are 1,000,000 requests / 10,000 requests * $0.01 = $1.00
  • You have a website that is accelerated using a MetaCDN Site accelerator. The MetaCDN Site accelerator handled 30,000,000 (30 million) requests to deliver files for your website during a single month. The total cost for these requests for the month are 30,000,000 requests / 10,000 requests * $0.01 = $30.00

Templates

Templates are custom video players that allow you to customise the look, feel and branding when delivering audio or video via MetaCDN, and can be embedded on 3rd party websites and social networks. Templates are free of charge.

Tracking your usage

You can track your usage of the above services at any time via logging onto the MetaCDN portal, and clicking on Usage. You can view the current billing month, as well as any past billing month. An example is shown below.

meta-usage.png

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