iRacing

Challenge

At the beginning of each 12-week racing season, members need to update their software to make sure they have the latest track and car information. With software updates of 4-5GB for existing players and up to 30GB for new members, the inconsistent download performance many players experienced impacted customer satisfaction and created an additional support burden for iRacing’s staff as they spent precious time troubleshooting issues.

Requirements

The team at iRacing began looking at adding a new Content Delivery Network (CDN) solution for redundancy and to ensure all quarterly updates run smoothly. They needed a CDN with the capacity and reached to support their global customer base of racers who expect the fastest performance. They also needed a CDN that has peering relationships with all of the major global internet service providers (ISPs), so no matter where players are located or how they connect to the internet, they would have the fastest download possible.

Solution

iRacing chose Edgio Origin Storage and Content Delivery to help store and deliver their large game files. Edgio's high cache hit ratio ensures players can quickly download game files from local points of presence (PoPs), rather than accessing it from distant locations. In addition, Edgio's private network bypasses internet congestion, providing faster download speeds by minimizing the number of hops that data needs to travel as it is being downloaded. And because Edgio Origin Storage also utilizes Edgio's private network, game files can be accessed and delivered quickly, even if they aren’t already in the cache.

Result

Working closely with Edgio's team of Advanced Service Architects, iRacing was able to implement Edgio in less than a week, just in time for the start of a new racing season where members needed to update their software. Racers immediately took notice of the improved download experience. The iRacing team received compliments, noting a huge improvement in service and performance of the software downloads. Not only did customer satisfaction increase, but the iRacing team no longer needed to spend a week working with customers to troubleshoot download issues. This allows them to focus on what they do best, delivering the most realistic online racing experience with cars and tracks virtually indistinguishable from the real thing.

Customer Support

Edgio provides free 24/7/365 unrestricted access to live support. Experienced service teams are always available to answer questions. In addition, Edgio provides self-service tools that allow iRacing to monitor metrics such as the cache hit rates of new software releases, so they can be sure racers are getting the fastest download experience.