Historical provider.
Current availability of the listed service is not confirmed. Acquired by StackPath in 2017-02-06.

Overview

Highwinds operated a CDN alongside storage and network services. Its RollingThunder network and StrikeTracker portal supported content distribution, including games and large digital assets.

StackPath announced the acquisition in February 2017 and planned to combine services and operations. This is a historical provider entry.

Network

Highwinds historically operated the RollingThunder distribution network alongside IP and transport services. Historical global coverage figures are not a current cache inventory.

For a migrated service, use the active provider’s coverage and origin design. A former backbone presence or storage site does not identify a live Highwinds cache.

Past features

StrikeTracker provided content management and analytics for the historical platform. The old service’s cache controls, API behavior, video formats and logs require product-specific documentation. Current StackPath or Akamai capabilities are not a technical specification for a legacy Highwinds account.

Service status

Check the current account

StackPath acquired Highwinds in 2017. Akamai bought selected StackPath enterprise contracts in 2023. Check your account notices and current operator to confirm where your service moved.

Validate the replacement

Inventory DNS, TLS certificates, origins, cache keys, authentication and purge behavior. Test actual downloads and video playback, then compare delivery, request and origin costs before changing production routing.

History timeline

  • 2002 — Highwinds founded — Winter Park, Florida.
  • 2007 — CDN, RollingThunder and StrikeTracker launched
  • February 6, 2017 — StackPath announced acquisition — Planned services and platform integration.
  • August 24, 2023 — Akamai acquired selected StackPath customer contracts — No personnel or technology; not all Highwinds accounts.
  • November 22, 2023 — Announced CDN retirement deadline — Reported provider notice named Highwinds CDN and StackPath CDN.

Budgeting for a replacement

Historical Highwinds prices cannot estimate a new service. Compare replacement quotes for delivery volume, requests, origin traffic, commitments and optional security or media services. Existing contract-transfer terms apply only to the affected account.

Historical integrations

For a legacy configuration, inventory StrikeTracker or API credentials, DNS targets, custom certificates, origin settings and access rules. Confirm the account’s actual migration destination before using a successor’s documentation. Check the replacement API and update any clients that used old endpoints.

What to know

Recover StrikeTracker settings, API integrations, delivery hostnames and invoices from an old account. Test the replacement against the actual download, game or media workload before switching traffic.

Planning a replacement

Use current providers for a new CDN deployment. For an existing Highwinds account, check the service notice and migration destination for that account before changing DNS, credentials or cache rules.

History

Provider milestones

  • 2002: Highwinds was founded, with headquarters in Winter Park, Florida.
  • 2007: Highwinds CDN, RollingThunder and StrikeTracker launched.
  • 2011–2013: Game Delivery Network and cloud storage joined the portfolio.
  • February 6, 2017: StackPath announced its acquisition and planned platform integration.

Later CDN exit

In August 2023, Akamai acquired selected enterprise contracts from StackPath after its decision to cease CDN operations. Personnel and technology were excluded. The reported StackPath notice set November 22, 2023 as the Highwinds and StackPath CDN retirement deadline; it did not promise migration for every customer.

Sources