Fastly Unveils Free Developer Accounts, AI Accelerator, and Glitch Enhancements to Power the Instant Open Web

Fastly

Summary:

This special event from Fastly introduces a suite of new products and initiatives aimed at making the internet faster and more accessible. Key announcements include:

• The launch of Free Fastly Developer Accounts, providing full access to Fastly's powerful CDN, basic bot protection, observability tools, and real-time logs.
• Major updates to Glitch, Fastly's creative community platform, allowing users to share and discover web apps from any hosting environment, starting with a preview beta on Glitch Pro.
• New Instant Services like the Fastly KV Store, Fanout for global real-time messaging, Domainer for instant domain data, and a Sustainability Dashboard.
• The introduction of Fastly AI Accelerator, designed to significantly speed up AI inference with semantic caching, making AI applications up to 9.3 times faster.
• A renewed commitment to the Open Internet, supporting open-source projects and communities, including a $40 million partnership with the Linux Foundation.
• An emphasis on Fastly's unique platform, built from the ground up for instant, global, and programmable experiences, and its culture of supporting diversity and employee well-being.

Introduction to Fastly's Vision [0:00]

Fastly hosts its first-ever Special Event, emphasizing its mission to instantly make the internet better by enabling amazing experiences. The company's core philosophy centers on controlling everything in software and empowering the open web.

Instantly Building a Better Internet [0:16]

Fastly aims to help users build great experiences and apps on the internet. The core idea is to make the internet better in an instant. This includes making experiences like streaming shows, downloading content, and buying concert tickets seamless.

Core Principles: Software Control, Open Web [1:07]

Fastly's approach is based on two core ideas:

1. Everything in Software: Every component between a user and their digital experience should be controlled in software, ensuring a great experience.
2. Powering the Open Web: Fostering creativity by empowering open-source projects, open protocols, and human interactions that drive the internet.
   • This combination of software control and open web empowerment is described as "magical."

     

Instant, Global, Programmable Platform [1:59]

Fastly distinguishes itself with a platform that is:

• Instant: Responding in milliseconds (e.g., 150ms).
• Global: Accessible and performant worldwide.
• Programmable: Offering flexibility and control. This combination unlocks "superpowers" for developers that are unavailable elsewhere.

  

The Foundation: Building the Whole Stack [7:01]

Fastly's co-founder, Simon Wistow, explains the fundamental aspects that make Fastly's platform unique.

Custom-built Stack for Extreme Performance [7:20]

Fastly built its entire stack from the ground up to achieve instant performance.

• This includes everything from the networking stack (software for internet switches) to the file system for SSDs.
• This comprehensive approach ensures full control, power, and speed.

Fewer, Larger Points of Presence (PoPs) [8:25]

Unlike older CDN models from the late '90s that used numerous small servers, Fastly adopted a strategy of fewer, much larger PoPs.

• These PoPs are strategically placed to reduce latency between user devices and the internet backbone.
• This approach not only maintains performance but also significantly increases the cache-hit ratio, drastically reducing traffic to origin servers and improving efficiency.

  

Secure by Design and Memory Safety [9:16]

Fastly's platform is built with security as a fundamental design principle.

• Enabling Faster Innovation: A secure platform allows developers to innovate and experiment faster without worrying about security flaws.
• Memory Safety by Default: The platform is designed to provide memory safety automatically when code is deployed, addressing a long-standing "original sin" of coding.

  

WebAssembly (Wasm) for a Secure, Open Platform [10:59]

Fastly leverages WebAssembly (Wasm) as a core technology.

• Proven Secure Platform: Wasm is a secure and efficient technology that Fastly has been heavily involved in developing and promoting as an open standard.
• Open Standards: Fastly believes in contributing to open standards for the benefit of the entire web community, not just for its own use.

  

• Instant is the Killer App: Instant functionality is identified as the "killer app" for WebAssembly and the open web, reflecting the modern demand for immediate experiences.

Glitch: Empowering the Open Web Community [15:08]

Fastly emphasizes its commitment to developers and communities, especially through Glitch.

Glitch's Role as a Creative Developer Community [16:25]

Glitch, acquired by Fastly two years prior, is a creative and friendly community where developers can build and share web applications.

• It boasts over 2.8 million developers who have created millions of apps.
• Ease of Use: Users can create personal websites directly from their browser in under a minute, starting from existing apps rather than a blank slate.
• Diverse Applications: Glitch is used for everything from simple personal websites to powerful APIs and integrations, including by the Google Chrome team for demos.
• Personal and Meaningful Projects: It also supports deeply personal projects, like sharing health journeys and pioneering accessibility features.

  

Expanding Glitch's Reach with New Sharing Features (Glitch Pro Preview) [19:27]

Fastly is significantly expanding Glitch's capabilities.

• Open Sharing and Discovery: Glitch is transforming into a platform where users can share and discover web app experiences regardless of where they were built or hosted.

  

• Glitch Pro Preview: This new feature is launching as a preview beta for Glitch Pro members, allowing them to add and share sites from their personal profiles.

  

• Community-Driven Development: The development process is public and collaborative with the Glitch community, reflecting an open-source ethos.

Commitment to Community Safety and Moderation [20:35]

Maintaining a safe and engaging community is a top priority for Glitch.

• Serious Moderation: Community moderation is taken extremely seriously, going beyond basic measures to balance filtering out negative content with bringing in positive contributions.
• Building to Last: Fastly believes it's a core responsibility for any social platform builder to create a safe and engaging environment built to last.

Fastly for Everyone: Free Developer Accounts [22:45]

Journie Johnson, a software engineer at Fastly, shares her personal journey and introduces a major new offering.

Making Powerful Features Accessible and Easy [25:01]

Fastly has historically been known for its power, often making it seem intimidating to new users.

• Simplified Onboarding: Fastly has worked to make its platform much easier to use, allowing new users to deploy websites or apps in minutes with starter kits.
• Full Programmable Power: Despite the simplified onboarding, users still retain access to Fastly's fully programmable power for advanced customization.

Introducing Free Developer Accounts [25:44]

Fastly announces its number one most requested feature: free developer accounts.

• Full Access: These accounts offer the full, uncompromised Fastly network, not a limited "baby version."

  

• Included Features: Free accounts include:
  1. CDN (Content Delivery Network)
  2. Basic bot protection
  3. Comprehensive observability tools
  4. Real-time stats
  5. Log shipping capabilities (to tools like Datadog, New Relic, Honeycomb)

     

• Commitment to Success: Fastly aims to support developers in achieving success with their projects, offering help and support rather than hidden costs or limitations.

New Instant Services for Developers [28:28]

Jesse von Doom, Developer Relations Expert, introduces a series of new instant capabilities.

1. Fastly KV Store [29:29]

An instant, global, and programmable key-value store.

• Enhanced Performance: Offers 1GB of free storage, 250,000 writes per month, 10 times more reads, and up to 30 times faster performance than competitors.

  

• Instant Data Retrieval: Provides instant data retrieval, enabling new ideas that were previously limited by data access times.

2. Fastly Fanout [31:07]

A real-time push service that enables instant, personalized, and global communication to billions of users.

• Massive Scale: Allows sending personalized messages to every user globally with just a few lines of code.

  

• Flexible Communication: Supports one-to-many communication, pub/sub at the edge, and two-way data ingestion for automation and transformations.
• Open Source Tooling: Includes an open-source Pushpin toolkit, ensuring no vendor lock-in.

3. Fastly Domains (Domainer Acquisition) [34:50]

A powerful service for accessing real-time domain data instantly.

• Real-time Insights: Provides programmatic access to domain data, availability, and monitoring information.

  

• Building Block Innovation: Extends Fastly's commitment to innovating on core internet building blocks, ensuring a secure and reliable web.

4. Fastly Sustainability Dashboard [36:50]

A new feature built into the Fastly control panel, offering real-time environmental insights.

• Environmental Footprint: Provides real-time information about an app's environmental footprint.

  

• ESG Reporting & Green Automation: Enables better decision-making for app operations, automation for greener practices, and simplified ESG reporting.

Fastly AI Accelerator: Making AI Instant [39:01]

Anil Dash returns to introduce a groundbreaking product for AI.

Addressing AI's Slowness with Semantic Caching [40:48]

Current AI experiences often suffer from slowness, leading to poor user satisfaction.

• Fastly AI Accelerator: A new product designed to make AI instant by addressing the inefficiency of AI models.
• Semantic Caching: The core technology involves using semantic caching for Open AI's chat completion API. This method finds semantically similar previous responses to current requests, improving speed.

  

• Performance Gains: Real-world tests show an average of 9.3 times faster responses compared to un-cached requests, with synthetic benchmarks reaching up to 17 times faster.

  

• Benefits: Leads to faster queries, reduced costs, a greener environmental footprint, and managed caching.

  

Simplified Implementation [42:54]

Fastly has made it incredibly easy to integrate AI Accelerator.

• One Line of Code: Developers only need to change one line of code to point to Fastly's AI Accelerator endpoint.
• Early Beta Program: The AI Accelerator is launching in an early beta, with an invitation for developers to join the conversation and provide feedback.

  

Fastly's Culture and Commitment [45:19]

Fastly's commitment extends beyond technology to its people and the broader internet ecosystem.

Emphasis on Positive Work Environment and Customer Relations [48:44]

Fastly values its employees and customer relationships.

• Employee Loyalty: Many former employees return to Fastly, highlighting a positive work environment, supportive community, and opportunities for growth.

  

• Customer Satisfaction: Customers consistently express satisfaction with doing business with Fastly due to strong relationships and access to technical experts.
• Workplaces That Work: Fastly fosters a mixed work model (in-office and remote) that prioritizes employee productivity and well-being.

  

Commitment to Open Internet: Fast Forward Program [51:49]

Fastly is dedicated to supporting the open internet through its Fast Forward program.

• Free Platform Services: Since its inception, Fastly has provided free services to open-source projects.
• Broad Support: This support extends to critical open-source projects like Python, RubyGems, Rust, Kubernetes, Scratch, and OpenStreetMap.

  

• Massive Impact: Fastly has delivered over 5 trillion requests on behalf of open-source projects, demonstrating significant impact.

Support for Open Source Maintainers [53:32]

Fastly recognizes the crucial, often thankless work of open-source maintainers.

• Addressing Burnout: Maintainer burnout is a significant concern, as it can lead to security risks for the entire ecosystem.
• Linux Foundation Partnership: Fastly is partnering with the Linux Foundation to provide $40 million in free services over five years to support every project and maintainer under its auspices.

  

  

Dedication to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) [55:05]

Fastly is committed to fostering an inclusive and diverse environment.

• Supporting Vulnerable Communities: They prioritize supporting colleagues from vulnerable communities, ensuring they feel welcomed and supported through initiatives like gender-affirming healthcare and employee resource groups.
• Innovation through Diversity: Fastly believes that diversity of thought and ideas fuels innovation, making the company stronger.

Internship Program Success [57:07]

Fastly's internship program is highly successful, with 100% of interns from last year accepting full-time positions.

The event concludes by reiterating Fastly's philosophy: "We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give," emphasizing the importance of being good to people and making a positive impact.