Pando Networks

{{Short description|Media distribution company in New York}}

{{Infobox company

|name = Pando Networks

|logo =

|type = Private

|foundation = 2004

|location_city = New York, New York

|location_country = United States

|location =

|locations =

|key_people = Robert Levitan (CEO and co-founder)
Yaron Samid (CMO, Co-Founder)
Avi Cohen (COO)
Laird Popkin (CTO and co-founder)

|area_served =

|industry = Peer Assisted Media Distribution

|products = Pando consumer application

|services = Peer-assisted media distribution for game, software and video publishers

|revenue =

|operating_income =

|net_income =

|num_employees =

|parent = Microsoft Corporation

|divisions =

|subsid =

|homepage = {{url|pandonetworks.com}}{{dl|date=March 2019}}

|dissolved =

|footnotes =

}}

Founded in 2004 in New York City, Pando Networks was a managed peer-to-peer (P2P) media distribution company backed by Intel Capital, BRM Capital and Wheatley Partners.{{Cite web

|url= http://sanjose.bizjournals.com/sanjose/stories/2006/05/15/daily27.html

|title=Intel Capital leads funding for Pando Networks

|work=sanjose.bizjournals.com

|date=May 15, 2006

}} The company specialized in cloud distribution of games, video and software for publishers and media distributors and also operated a freemium consumer business for sending large files.{{Cite news

|last1=Mossberg

|first1=Walter S

|last2=Boehret

|first2=Katherine

|newspaper=The Wall Street Journal

|title=An Easier Way to Send Large Email Attachments

|date=July 12, 2006

|url= http://solution.allthingsd.com/20060712/easier-email-attachments/

}}

Pando Network's technology was based on BitTorrent but with modifications. Its hybrid P2P- and server-based network included central control over file distribution, intelligent throttling between peers and servers, reporting/analytics and security.

In the spring of 2006, the company publicly launched Pando, a small application that let consumers bypass email's attachment limits and send large files (up to 1GB) regardless of email service provider.{{Cite news

|last=Kelly

|first=David A.

|title=Video Catching Up to Photos When It Comes to Sharing

|newspaper=The New York Times

|date=June 29, 2006

|url= https://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/29/technology/29basics.html?_r=2&scp=1&sq=&st=nyt

|access-date=October 17, 2010

}} By late May 2009, over 30 million people had installed the Pando application.{{Cite web

|url= http://www.beet.tv/2009/05/pando-has-p2p-distibution-for-major-video-game-publishers.html

|title=Beet.TV: Pando Has P2P Distribution for Major Video Game Publishers

|last=Plessner

|first=Andy

|work=beet.tv

|date=May 23, 2009

|access-date=October 16, 2010

}}

In late 2007, along with Verizon Communications, Pando Networks co-founded the P4P (“Proactive network Provider Participation for P2P”) Working Group, to serve both P2P companies and Internet service providers (ISPs), who were seeing as much of 70 percent of bandwidth go to P2P traffic.{{Cite web

|url= http://thefutureofthings.com/news/1213/p4p-next-generation-p2p.html

|title=P4P – Next Generation P2P

|last=Menon

|first=Anuradha

|work=thefutureofthings.com

|date=June 27, 2008

}} The P4P working group includes a mix of more than 50 P2P companies and ISPs including Telefónica and Comcast. A Yale computer science research team developed the P4P technical protocol, which they believed could speed P2P content delivery while lowering ISP network utilization.

{{Cite web

|url=http://opa.yale.edu/news/article.aspx?id=5859

|title=Yale Computer Scientists Devise a "P4P" System for Efficient Internet Usage

|work=opa.yale.edu

|date=May 27, 2008

|access-date=October 18, 2010

|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080923074654/http://opa.yale.edu/news/article.aspx?id=5859

|archive-date=September 23, 2008

|url-status=dead

|df=mdy-all

}}

In collaboration with Yale and the P4P working group, Pando Networks adopted the technology and Laird Popkin coordinated a test in the summer of 2008, showing promising results.{{Cite web

|url= http://www.technologyreview.com/web/23952/page1/

|title=P4P Remodels File Sharing

|last=Jonietz

|first=Erika

|work=technologyreview.com

|date=November 17, 2009

}}{{Cite web

|url= https://arstechnica.com/old/content/2008/03/verizon-embraces-p4p-a-more-efficient-peer-to-peer-tech.ars

|title=Verizon embraces P4P, a more efficient peer-to-peer tech

|last=Paul

|first=Ryan

|work=arstechnica.com

|date=March 14, 2008

}}{{Cite web

|url= https://arstechnica.com/old/content/2008/11/comcastic-p4p-trial-shows-80-speed-boost-for-p2p-downloads.ars

|title=Comcastic P4P trial shows 80% speed boost for P2P downloads

|last=Anderson

|first=Nate

|work=arstechnica.com

|date=November 3, 2008

}}

The company released its first commercial service in May 2008; media distributors could now plug Pando Networks' peer cloud into their existing content delivery networks (CDNs). The combination of a peer cloud plus a CDN allows files in high demand to be quickly and cost effectively delivered by the peers and long tail content to be reliably served off the CDN.{{Cite web

|url= http://web2.sys-con.com/node/699682/

|title=Cloud Computing & Content Delivery Networks – Web 2.0 Journal

|work=web2.sys-con.com

|last=Cohen

|first=Reuven

|date=October 6, 2008

}}

NBC Universal incorporated Pando Networks’ technology later that year to deliver high-definition TV episodes to consumers’ PCs.{{Cite web

|url= http://mashable.com/2008/02/27/nbc-direct-pando/

|title=NBC Direct To Get a Reboot With Help From Pando

|work=mashable.com

|last=Glazowski

|first=Paul

|date=February 7, 2008

}}

The game industry was Pando Networks’ largest customer segment. Installation files, particularly for massively multiplayer online games (MMOs), can reach well over 1GB. Pando Networks' game customers included Nexon,{{Cite web

|url= https://www.gamedeveloper.com/game-platforms/nexon-america-chooses-pando-for-content-delivery

|title=Nexon America Chooses Pando For Content Delivery

|last=Alexander

|first=Leigh

|date=March 5, 2009

|work=gamasutra.com

|access-date=October 16, 2010

}} Turbine, Riot Games, Gala-Net, and LevelUp.{{Cite web

|url= http://www.tmcnet.com/usubmit/2009/09/16/4373266.htm

|title=More Game Companies Select Pando Networks to Optimize Game Downloads

|work=tmcnet.com

|date=September 16, 2009

}} In May 2010, Pando Networks surpassed 30 million game downloads.

{{Cite web

|url= http://itmanagement.earthweb.com/mowi/article.php/3906086/7-Hot-Cloud-Computing-Innovations.htm

|title=7 Hot Cloud Computing Innovations

|last=Vance

|first=Jeff

|work=datamation.com

|date=September 30, 2010

}}

Pando Networks was acquired by Microsoft in March 2013.{{Cite web|title=Microsoft Acquires Pando – Next Xbox Uses Rumoured – TheSixthAxis|date=14 March 2013 |url=https://www.thesixthaxis.com/2013/03/14/microsoft-acquires-pando-next-xbox-uses-rumoured/|access-date=2020-12-04|language=en-US}}