Akamai first to offer VPUs in the cloud
Akamai launched Akamai Cloud Accelerated Compute Instances, a new compute category built on specialised computer chips designed to perform specific tasks more efficiently than general-purpose processors. The new instances are powered by NETINT video processing units (VPU), NETINT’s proprietary hardware for media transcoding. Akamai is the first and only cloud provider to offer VPUs in the cloud.
NETINT VPUs are designed for workloads where minimising the cost of delivering high-quality video streams is essential or where reducing energy consumption is a priority. Akamai’s accelerated instances are powered by Quadra T1U VPUs, a single-chip solution that supports encoding resolutions up to 8 Kp60 in industry-standard formats, including AV1, HEVC, and H.264 with 8/10-bit support, including HDR. As the highest-density hardware encoder available, the Quadra T1U can encode 32 live streams at 1080p30 broadcast quality, with the capacity scaling linearly for resolutions above or below HD.
The rise in live and on-demand video streaming, user-generated content, and video-driven social media drives companies to look for optimised hardware and cloud solutions to improve application performance. However, transcoding-optimised cloud computing resources are rare. Previously, the only way to deploy NETINT’s VPU hardware has been to purchase it outright and run it on-premises or in a colocation facility. Akamai Accelerated Compute Instances are designed for media companies delivering video-on-demand and live streaming services, providing the scalability needed without inflating IT budgets.
“By bringing traditionally hardware-confined power to the cloud, we’re removing barriers that have held businesses back. Companies can now cut costs, scale seamlessly, and deliver better streaming experiences—solving a major industry challenge that’s been overlooked for too long,” said Jon Alexander, vice president, product management, Akamai. “ Being the first cloud provider to offer VPUs gives Akamai a new competitive edge to expand our long-standing relationships with our media partners.”
NETINT VPUs allow companies to reallocate their application’s CPUs by offloading computationally intensive video processing tasks to the VPU. A VPU architecture offers up to 20 times greater throughput than CPU-only solutions. This frees the CPU to do other things like dynamic packaging, de-interlacing, real-time speech-to-text captioning, software decoding for standards not supported in the VPU, and the ability to run popular applications like FFMPEG and GStreamer.
“VPUs are the ultimate cheat code for video streaming profitability,” said Randal Horne, Chief Revenue Officer, NETINT. “The expenses to deliver massive volumes of video content using traditional software encoders are crippling. NETINT is proud to be the VPU engine inside Akamai’s Accelerated Compute Instances, bringing up to twenty times the throughput at a tenth of the cost compared to traditional industry platforms. With Akamai Cloud, NETINT helps media companies reduce equipment investment and cut OPEX to meet their growth and profitability targets.”
Akamai is making a play to be the cloud for media and capture areas of the market overlooked by hyperscalers. Akamai media services, trusted by all top 10 video streaming services, include solutions for contribution, transport, transcoding, packaging, digital rights management, ad insertion, and content security. With the first-time cloud availability of VPUs, transcoding optimised NVIDIA GPUs, and industry-low egress costs, Akamai enables seamless performance at scale. Its cloud platform is open by design, giving customers control over every aspect of their workflow and access to a vibrant and growing third-party partner network. Media companies can choose from multiple software and partner options across each workflow step to transport, prepare, process, deliver, secure, and monetise digital content. The scale of Akamai’s massively distributed cloud gives it the unique ability to minimise egress fees and offer generous allowances, providing unmatched price-performance.
Akamai will show its range of cloud-based media delivery, computing, and security capabilities during the 2025 NAB Show in Las Vegas, April 6-9. Akamai will host visitors at the Akamai Lounge, located in the Las Vegas Convention Center on the second level of the West Hall, room W234LMR.
