Windows 10 launch expected to break internet traffic records, may peak at 40TB/s

Today is the big day, Microsoft is set to roll out Windows 10 to millions of PCs across the globe. It’s going to be a tough job for Microsoft to make sure every PC is running the latest operating system, and it may have its side effects. One CDN analyst believes Microsoft will break internet traffic records as soon as it starts the Windows 10 distribution process. 

Dan Rayburn said, “I’ve never used the term “break the Internet” because most of the time people say that, they are simply overhyping  an event on the web. But with the volume of downloads that Microsoft is expecting for the launch of Windows 10 and the capacity they have already reserved from third-party CDNs to deliver the software, the Internet is in for some real performance problems this week.”

Citing his sources, Rayburn said Microsoft has reserved up to 40Tb/s capacity from third-party content delivery networks combined, including Akamai, EdgeCast, Level 3 and Limelight Networks for Windows 10’s distribution. Akamai has the largest share of network followed by Limelight Networks. The software giant’s own CDN will also handle some of the downloads, but it’s not as big as the one assigned over to other third-party CDN providers. 

Users planning to upgrade to Windows 10 on launch day may experience slow downloads that could take days so don’t panic if it’s downloading slow. 

Unless Windows 10 is a complete flop and people don’t upgrade as quickly as Microsoft expects, Windows 10 is going to create some serious havoc with regards to the user experience. Expect to see some download times in the days, not hours, especially if any other content owners happen to have larger than expected traffic at the same time. Quality of service for downloads could deteriorate really quickly and remain poor for days, if not longer. 

Rayburn further said that traffic went over 10Tb/s by 1pm ET, Tuesday, which is still massive compared to other launch events and software delivery methods used by other companies. For instance, some of Apple’s recent largest live events on the web have peaked at 8Tb/s so you can imagine how big this is going to be.

Windows 10 is already downloaded for many users who have reserved it, and should start downloading soon for other users as well. Let us know if you’ve started downloading Windows 10 on your PC or tablet.