Architecture of a VOD system with proxy servers

We present an architecture of a VOD system employing proxy servers. The pro posed VOD system provides efficient and reliable VOD services and solves th e problems caused by traditional VOD systems of centralized, hierarchical o r distributed architecture. The proxy servers are placed between video serv ers and user systems. The proxy server is a small size video server that ha s not only caching function but also intelligence such as VCR-like video st ream control or navigation of other proxy/video servers to search for a sel ected video program. Using a VOD system of the proposed architecture, the V OD services can be provided to more users because it reduces the workload o f video servers and network traffic, me provide the performance model of th e system. Service availability is also analyzed. The proposed architecture shows better performance and availability than the traditional VOD architec tures.