P57 Novelli

The document proposes a software architecture that uses a Grid computing environment to realize a Content Distribution Network for multimedia content. The architecture exploits Grid resources not only for storage but also for on-the-fly transcoding of multimedia files into formats supported by clients. It describes components that select the nearest storage element to the client and a computing element with sufficient resources to perform transcoding when needed, aiming to minimize latency and maximize quality of service for the user.