An AccuWeather Cloudlet Answers a Hail of Data Requests

Case Study
An AccuWeather Cloudlet Answers a
Hail of Data Requests
About AccuWeather, Inc.
AccuWeather is the World’s Weather Authority, leading the production
of weather content and information. From its headquarters in State
College, Pennsylvania, AccuWeather experts gather and analyze global
weather data to provide accurate, localized weather forecasting and
related information to customers worldwide. With a keen understanding
of weather and its impact on peoples’ lives, founder Dr. Joel N. Myers
developed his forecasting business into a global media company
that serves government agencies, international media networks,
corporations and individual Web and mobile device users. AccuWeather
products and services range from customized reports and proprietary
weather graphics to 15-day forecasts and severe weather alerts.
Situation
In recent years the use of mobile devices to retrieve AccuWeather
widgets and applications has mushroomed. In just one year, weather
inquiries from mobile users grew from 50 million to 650 million requests
per day. But discrepancies in the way some mobile devices communicated
their locations threatened to compromise AccuWeather’s application
performance. These global positioning system (GPS) locators pinpointed
the user’s position with extreme precision. Requests from some of
these devices were specific down to a square nanometer, degrading
AccuWeather’s network edge efficiency, and forcing redundant
requests for weather updates back to headquarters. The result was
inefficient use of a global network-based cache and ultimately excess
work for the company’s data servers. AccuWeather needed a way to
meet the growing demands for real-time information without growing
its infrastructure investment.
Solution
AccuWeather implemented AT&T Content Acceleration Cloudlet module
that shortens the GPS parameters to a more manageable level. The
majority of requests can now be delivered from a network-based
cache without having to travel back to headquarters for the latest
forecast. Users get the information that they need more quickly
without taxing the capacity of the origin servers or requiring an
additional hardware investment.
Local Weather Forecasts on the Global Stage
Established in 1962, AccuWeather has evolved into the world’s leading
provider of weather information. The company has pioneered precision
weather forecasting and dynamic content distribution, creating a
wide-reaching information network that includes its high-profile
media presence, mobile device applications and the comprehensive
website AccuWeather.com. From local weather forecasting and severe
weather warnings to UV index and weather-related health reports,
AccuWeather provides people with critical information to help them
navigate their daily lives.
AccuWeather employs 113 meteorologists at its central Pennsylvania
headquarters. They and more than 200 other employees gather,
analyze, and distribute weather data worldwide, providing local weather
forecasting for every corner of the globe. Reporting in 36 different
languages, AccuWeather serves the U.S. and more than two million
locations outside the country. Its customers include government
agencies, educational institutions, Fortune 500 corporations, news
networks and individual subscribers.
AccuWeather developed out of an understanding that access to
accurate information can help guide important, even life-saving,
responses. In creating and distributing weather information, it has
become more than simply a forecasting business. “At the end of the
day, AccuWeather is a media company and weather is our content,”
said CIO Steven R. Smith.
AccuWeather, Inc. Facts
• Business Needs
Serve a fast-growing number of mobile device users
without the need for major infrastructure investments
• Networking Solution
AT&T Content Acceleration Cloudlet module feature enables
more efficient handling of weather-related requests
• Business Value
Quicker response times and improved user experience with
existing web infrastructure
• Industry Focus
Full-service weather media company
• Size
Global weather coverage across the U.S. and to over two
million locations worldwide

Case Study - AccuWeather, Inc._______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 2
The company’s growth has been marked by one innovation after
another. Its advancements include the first seven-day forecast for
television, weather graphics and even new terminology to make the
potential of severe storm impact understandable. Keeping ahead
of the trends to ensure the timely accessibility of its information,
AccuWeather experts identify global patterns – not solely in weather,
but in technology and communications. “Our goal is to make sure
that the content we create here is available on any platform that’s out
there,” Smith explained.
Challenges of a Mobile Market
With the evolution of mobile devices and smartphone technology,
AccuWeather is experiencing growth in both volume of users and
variety of information requested. “Mobile has grown leaps and bounds,”
said Smith. Just in the past year, requests to AccuWeather’s mobile
applications have increased from 50 million to 650 million per day.
Such growth has brought both opportunities and challenges. One such
challenge has been the functionality of the devices themselves.
Smartphones use internal GPS locators to provide each consumer
with highly localized, almost personalized, information. “The GPS
coordinates drive everything from language to location so translation
needs to be correct,” said Smith. However, the data parameters used
by some mobile device locators were too precise since they were
programmed to request pinpoint weather information for GPS locations
defined by fifteen decimal points of latitude and longitude. Such precision
might be needed for locating the closest espresso stand or making the
correct right turn. But the hyper-detail of these requests multiplied
their number so that even moving a device from one side of a desk to
the other could result in a request for refreshed data. “These requests
were coming back to State College and then the data was brought
back out. The traffic explosion was dramatic,” Smith said.
The excess network travel and computation slowed response times
and could compromise end-user experience. “Our customers rely on the
information being localized and accurate, and they want these products
quickly,” said Jon Porter, engineer and member of the AccuWeather
enterprise architecture team. “Every time you come back to origin, you
are increasing the round trip time for the users,” Smith added. “We
were watching our servers ramp up in terms of utilization and usage
on a daily basis.” The system was in danger of being overloaded.
Trimming Travel Time
“We decided on something that makes sense for our business –
deliver the highly localized information that are customers need
while not flooding our entire infrastructure,” said Porter. AccuWeather
implemented an AT&T Content Acceleration Cloudlet module that
changes the parameters defined by the mobile device to match the
AccuWeather data format. In this case, the Cloudlet truncates the
number of decimal points specified for latitude and longitude from
fifteen points to two.
“It takes the data coming from the device, reduces it to a level to get
the accuracy and localized information that we need, and then
attempts to extract that information out at the network edge,” Porter
explained. This prevents the requests from having to travel to the
origin server. Like a business model of field offices which handles
transactions at a distance from company headquarters, the Cloudlet
reduces traffic to and from the main office.
“Our goal is to make sure that the content we create
here is available on any platform that’s out there.”
– Steven R. Smith, CIO, AccuWeather, Inc.
With the AT&T Content Acceleration Cloudlet module, transaction
time is improved, and AccuWeather is saved from having to buy and
maintain more servers. Origin server usage has decreased by about
75 percent. “Before, the system was utilizing resources at very high
levels for very computational processes,” said Smith.
Forecasting Future Growth
The Cloudlet module can be readily adapted to resolve similar issues
in the future. It enables changes to any kind of data request, and is
adaptable to the multitude of emerging devices and formats. “The service
allows us to interrogate any incoming URL and change it however we
see fit to make it match the best possible result,” Smith explained.
Once an application is written into a device, it’s difficult to quickly
rewrite that code. AT&T Content Acceleration Cloudlet module
gives AccuWeather the flexibility to respond quickly and update its
interactions with these mobile devices even after they’re out on the
market. “The fact that we will have a way to manipulate after the fact
is a great thing,” said Smith. “We are not just a data provider in that
case; we really are a solutions provider too.”
The mobile market is constantly evolving, with new devices being
developed and rolled out daily. “As the next generation comes out,
we are making sure that we have even more compelling content and
features that play to new technology enhancements so we can deliver
weather information to people that need it in new ways everyday,”
said Porter. “Having this kind of technology in our set of capabilities is
going to be very helpful.”
Needs Are Met
Implementation of the AT&T Content Acceleration Cloudlet module
was a collaborative process. “We had a strong relationship AT&T
already,” explained Anthony Hatch, Senior web server administrator.
“They have a good understanding of how our data is used and what
our needs are.” All in all, the implementation took about half of a day’s
worth of work, from start to finish,” added Smith.
And in the future? The flexibility and fast, straightforward
implementation of the AT&T Content Acceleration solution make this
an extremely useful tool. “I have a feeling we will use this service in
different ways that we haven’t even thought of yet,” Smith said.
For more information contact your AT&T Representative or visit us at www.att.com/business.
04/07/11 AB-2106
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