Document the long-term strategy for disentangling the AMP runtime from the Google AMP Cache

[tobie]

See:

• A CDN for the AMP runtime section in the OpenJS Foundation application.

• The FAQ on the OpenJS Foundation announcement:

  Currently, the AMP runtime is hosted on the same infrastructure as the Google AMP Cache. Doesn’t this present serious issues?

  The end goal is to separate the AMP runtime from the Google AMP Cache. The Project is currently in the incubating stage and Project leaders are still determining the next steps. Ideally, hosting and deployment of the AMP runtime to the CDN would fall under the purview of the OpenJS Foundation, much like the foundation is handling other projects CDNs, such as the jQuery CDN.

  Untangling the runtime from the cache is a complex endeavor requiring significant investments of time and effort which would be planned and implemented in collaboration with the foundation and industry stakeholders during and after incubation.

  The OpenJS Foundation CPC is committed to having a long-term strategy in place to address this issue by the end of AMP’s incubation.

This should notably:

• be done in collaboration with the foundation and the CPC,
• describe the difference between the proprietary AMP caches, such as Google's or Bing's, and the hosting of the AMP runtime,
• include a projected timeframe for dis-entangling the two,
• specify the domain(s) on which the AMP runtime would be hosted,
• clarify that AMP caches would probably host their own copy of the runtime (and that cached AMP pages would be transformed accordingly as part of the pre-caching transform process),
• describe by whom the supporting infrastructure would be provided, how it would be maintained, and how it would be governed,
• describe the deployment process and related security considerations, and
• describe the privacy policy under which the runtime would be hosted.

[mrjoro]

/cc @ampproject/wg-infra @ampproject/wg-caching @rsimha @Gregable

[Gregable]

I'm guessing that the following are the required technical goals:

1. Serve the AMP runtime files on a new domain name. (amp.dev?)
2. Change AMP validation to accept those URLs.
3. Continue to serve the AMP runtime on cdn.ampproject.org for backwards compatibility, which Google will continue to own (?).

The simplest to set up would initially be if Google continued to provide the serving infrastructure for this new domain. Since the foundation would own the domain itself, it could then independently choose to switch to a different infrastructure provider in the future, as either a phase 2 of the project or at some undetermined time in the future when there is a benefit to do so. It would be useful for planning to know from the WG if this is an acceptable design or if not, who would provide the serving infrastructure.

[tobie]

@Gregable in broad strokes, that's what we discussed with @bnb during the contributor summit.

My understanding is that the foundation would be happy staying at a phase 1, but would like to have an open source solution available to make a transition to phase 2 possible. I don't have a good enough understanding of the infra requirements needed to serve the runtime at scale, so I don't know whether that's a reasonable requirement or whether the deployment is too specific to Google's infra to make that possible.

It would be good to have an open communication channel between the OpenJS foundation's Cross Project Council (CPC), @ampproject/wg-infra, and @ampproject/wg-caching to make sure there's a good understanding of the requirements and the constraints on all sides.

@bnb, @brianwarner, @jorydotcom: what's the best option here? (for the communication channel, that is.)

[Gregable]

The deployment isn't too specific to Google's infra. Whatever is deployed would need to be edge-cached though, so a CDN of some sort with edge-caching servers would need to be involved. There are several other private companies that provide such serving, Google's infra being just one option. I'm unsure which if any would qualify as an open source solution.

[tobie]

Opened openjs-foundation/project-status#31 to get a communication channel vetween the CPC and this group.

[Gregable]

See Disentangling the AMP runtime from the Google AMP Cache for the draft design. After some discussion, we decided to propose that the foundation register a new domain name rather than transferring ampproject.org, but both options are discussed in detail in the linked document.

[tobie]

Agreement to share this document with the CPC to get feedback. @jorydotcom will share with the CPC copying @Gregable and @tobie (I will share email addresses privately).

[tobie]

Document shared late March. CPC emailed with follow-up question. @Gregable to get back to the CPC.

[tobie]

@jorydotcom to get back to the CPC and advise AMP infra will be moving ahead with the agreed plan if there aren't further comments or questions.

[tobie]

Confirmation from @joesepi that he was OK with the plan. Closing.