2318240 - FAQ: iContent, iContent Provisioning, and Akamai Service

What is iContent and Akamai?

SAP SuccessFactors Learning

iContent:

• What is iContent?
• iContent is a free service which provides 25 GB of space on an SFTP to host content files for SAP SuccessFactors Learning. The 25 GB is a self-managed space, which means that customers will be responsible for maintenance of this SFTP space and the data inside it.
• How do I get iContent setup?
• All new LMS tenants have iContent automatically provisioned. If the information was not received or was not setup, please raise a support case and request us to provision it for you. This process can take up to 10 business days. Either the Partner can raise the request during implementation or a customer can raise this request at any point.
• Do I have to use iContent?
• There are customers who do not want this free service and would want to host the contents in their own SFTP servers (Cross Domain Solution).
• What priority should the iContent provision request be raised as?
• Medium priority unless proper business impact can be provided.
• Can I get more SFTP space?
• Please contact your CSM, SAP Account Executive, or SAP Sales team for more information.
• What Learning environments will have iContent? 
• iContent is provisioned for all tenants that are purchased and will utilize the same iContent SFTP account.
  
• The 25 GB of space is for each environment?
• iContent SFTP space is shared between all environments that are configured with the same SFTP account.
• Can more storage be allocated for iContent?
• Additional storage can be purchased. Please contact your SAP Sales Representative.
• Only one iContent SFTP account was provided but I have a Production and a Stage environment, is this correct?
• Only one iContent SFTP account is provided and do not differ between environments. When setting up the Deployment Location, configure different file locations to easily know what files belong to which environment and simple purging of data for clean-up.
• iContent was provisioned already. How do I retrieve the password?
• Please see 2381395 for more information.
• Are SalesDemo environments provided with iContent?
• As a Partner, please check PartnerEdge for the "SAP SuccessFactors HXM: Partner Test and Demo Licensing Service Offering" for the latest information on this topic as to what is provisioned for these types of environments.
• Can bandwitdh for downloading from iContent be increased?
• No this cannot be changed.
• Does case sensitivity matter when importing content?
• The content servers are not case sensitive when launching content. It is not possible to have the same file/folder name in the same location on the SFTP even if the file/folder name are upper/lowercase mismatched.

NOTE: Unless your contractual agreement includes Premium Content Management Services as an additional service, the iContent storage assigned to your LMS environment(s) is a self-managed account, which means that each customer is responsible for managing it. Hence, please consult with your IT team for assistance with using an SFTP client to complete managerial tasks (such as managing your iContent storage usage as described in KBA 2242091). If you are unsure about your iContent contract, then you may consult with your SAP/SF representative (e.g. CSM, CEE, Account Executive, etc.) for confirmation.

Akamai Service:

• What is Akamai?
• Akamai is automatically enabled to provide faster access to both SAP SuccessFactors Learning along with content that is stored on the iContent SFTP. Akamai is content delivery network (CDN) tool which stores and caches data across multiple servers around the world. 
• Why is Akamai used? 
• To provide a better user experience. Example: If the content server is in Sydney and if the users are accessing the content in New York, there would be a tremendous delay in the time taken to render all the contents from Sydney servers to the user's location. With Akamai, the contents are cached in multiple locations and would be rendered to the users from the closest location such as the content is cached in the servers located in Texas and delivered from Texas to New York reducing the time taken to load.
• Are there limitations considering regions?
• Yes, China has it's own content delivery network that is inside the country. Any iContent SFTP that is not based inside the China region does not cache inside of the China CDN. As an example, if a user is in China but the iContent SFTP Data Center is located outside of China, the data will not be cached on Chinese Akamai servers but instead nearby servers such as Japan or South Korea.
• Can I place Akamai IP on the Allow-list?
• As Akamai has over 200,000 servers over the globe, the IP addresses cannot be easily placed on the allow-list of your organization. Please use the domain of the URL such as '*.plateau.com'.

• What is the Akamai caching period?
  • Akamai caching period is dynamic and does not have set periods when the cache is cleared/updated. This dynamic caching period cannot be changed. 
• What is the maximum file size that Akamai can cache?
• Akamai can cache file sizes that are 1800 MB (~1.8 GB). This is not for the file as a whole but individual files. If single mp4 video file that is over this threshold is uploaded, it will fail to replicate through the Akamai system thus not work when launching in SuccessFactors Learning. There is no workaround that can be used in tools of the Learning system. Please make the changes at the content level such as rendering the video in a smaller encoding/resolution, breaking the video into several files, or recreating the content.

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