Valve deploys 100Gbps network services from Level 3 to manage rocketing demand for online gaming [UPDATED]
'Larger links provide more total capacity which reduces potential blockages or choke points in the network,' Valve's Mike Dunkle tells Computing
UPDATED: Valve, the developer behind the Steam digital distribution online gaming platform and popular PC games, including Half-Life, Team Fortress 2 and Dota 2, has upgraded its network infrastructure to include 100 Gigabits per second (Gbps) internet service ports.
The upgrade, being managed in partnership with network service provider Level 3, is in response to increased demands for bandwidth due to the rise in popularity of online gaming and to help Steam servers better handle downloads from millions of gamers.
"Larger links provide more total capacity which reduces potential blockages or choke points in the network," Valve told Computing.
This month, on the evening of 3 January, the number of concurrent Steam users reached a record high, with more than 12 million people using the service to play games, make trades, and to download games and other software.
The regular average number of concurrent users is 10 million and the service has more than 100 million active users across PC, Mac and Linux platforms and traffic levels are increasing massively, year-on-year
Steam averages more than 450 petabytes of data worldwide per month and four exabytes of data per year. As demand has continued to rise - and as downloads get ever-bigger - Valve has responded by increasing bandwidth in some of its biggest markets.
Level 3's 100 Gbps network is available in 26 countries across North America and Europe, enabling Valve to better serve most - although by no means all - of its most demanding markets.
"Level 3 has been instrumental in helping us scale our network to easily and efficiently manage the accelerated growth we've seen over the last several years," said Mike Dunkle, general business development manager at Valve. "They're one of the few providers that offers 100 Gbps internet ports, which are now a critical component of our network infrastructure," Dunkle added.
In an email to Computing, Dunkle said that the "performance, capacity and site access of the Level 3 network" were the key reason for Valve's deployment of the network.
Valve and Steam users will benefit from the 100 Gbps network because "larger links from providers allow us to take full advantage of our content delivery servers while maintaining fewer network links," Dunkle explained.
"Larger links provide more total capacity which reduces potential blockages or choke points in the network," he added.
Last year, Valve's International Dota 2 Championships tournament - which had a prize pit of $18m - was briefly delayed because of a distributed denial-of-service attack. The company will be hoping that the partnership with Level 3 will help prevent such an attacking disrupting either an event or its services again.
Anthony Christie, chief marketing officer at Level 3 (not unsurprisingly) welcomed the partnership with Valve. "While online gaming has been around for decades, game developers and distributors are encountering new challenges as online games have become more popular and bandwidth-hungry," he said.
He continued: "Level 3's network of 100 Gbps internet ports enables companies like Valve to securely handle massive amounts of traffic and bandwidth-heavy downloads, while still providing millions of customers with the seamless gaming experience that has made Steam a leading platform."