Systems and methods for providing differentiated business services in information management environments

• US 20020049608A1
• Filed: 06/12/2001
• Published: 04/25/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 03/03/2000
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Surgient Networks, Inc. (Quest Software, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Surgient Networks, Inc. (Quest Software, Inc.)
• Inventors: Johnson, Scott C., Jackson, Gregory J., Richter, Roger K., Qiu, Chaoxin C., Fernander, Robert B., Hartsell, Neal D.
• Application Number:
  US09/879,848
• Publication Number:
  US 20020049608A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management

Abstract

Methods and systems for providing differentiated service that may be employed, for example, to deliver content or services in a network environment. Differentiated services that may be so delivered include both differentiated information service that may be implemented, for example, at the system and/or processing level, as well as differentiated business service that may be implemented, for example, to differentiate information exchange between different network entities such as different network provider entities, different network user entities, etc. The methods and systems may include or facilitate provisioning of system service parameters such as service level agreement (“SLA”) policies and may be employed in network computing system environments to enable differentiated service provisioning, for example, in accordance with business objectives.

Claims

1. A method of providing differentiated business service in an information management environment, said method comprising providing said differentiated business service at an information source.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein said method comprises providing one or more information services to two or more network entities using an information management system comprising said information source;

and wherein at least one of said information management services is provided to said network entities by said information management system in a manner that differentiates between at least two of said network entities.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein said information management system comprises a content source.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein said information management system comprises an application processing source.

5. The method of claim 2, wherein said information management system comprises a network endpoint information management system.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein said network endpoint information management system comprises a network endpoint content delivery system.

7. The method of claim 3, wherein said information management system comprises a content source that is capacity-constrained;

and wherein said method further comprises allocating at least one of content-related resources, content-related costs, or a combination thereof at the content source.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein said information management system is coupled to a network having a network core that has excess capacity.

9. The method of claim 7, wherein said information management system comprises at least one of a storage network, storage virtualization node, content server, content delivery data center, edge content delivery node, or a combination thereof.

10. The method of claim 3, wherein said information management system is coupled to a network having a network core that has excess capacity;

wherein said information management system comprises a content source that is capacity-constrained; and

wherein said method further comprises allocating at least one of content-related resources, content-related costs, or a combination thereof at point outside said network core.

11. The method of claim 2, wherein said method comprises providing one or more information services to two or more network entities by managing information management within said information management system in a manner according to two or more different information management models, each of said information management models comprising an information management quality model, an information management price model, or a combination thereof.

12. The method of claim 3, wherein said method comprises delivering content from said content source to two or more network entities according to two or more different content delivery models, each of said content delivery models comprising a content delivery quality model, a content delivery price model, or a combination thereof.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein said method comprises providing a package of multiple information management services to two or more network entities in a manner that differentiates between at least two of said network entities in a session-aware manner.

15. The method of claim 13, wherein said information management services comprise information management services.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein said two or more network entities each comprise respective individual business entities;

and wherein said method comprises providing said at least one information management service to said business entities in a manner that vertically differentiates between at least two of said individual business entities in a session-aware manner.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein said at least two individual business entities comprise at least one of co-tenants of said information management system, co-subscribers of information management services provided by said information management system, or a combination thereof

18. The method of claim 17, wherein said at least two individual business entities comprise co-subscribers of information management services provided by said information management system;

and wherein said method comprises providing differentiated classes of service to said co-subscribers.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein said method further comprises providing differentiated quality of service to said co-subscribers on at least one of a per-class of service basis, per-subscriber basis, or a combination thereof.

20. The method of claim 15, wherein said two or more network entities each comprise respective individual business entities;

and wherein said method comprises providing said at least one information management service to said business entities in a manner that horizontally differentiates between at least two of said individual business entities in a session-aware manner.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein said at least two individual business entities comprise two or more host service providers served by said information management system.

22. The method of claim 15, wherein said method further comprises providing said information management services to said network entities by using differentiated information service within said information management system to differentiate between at least two of said network entities in a session-aware manner.

23. The method of claim 15, wherein said method further comprises providing said information management services to said network entities in a manner that deterministically differentiates between at least two of said network entities in a session-aware manner.

24. The method of claim 23, wherein said method further comprises providing said information management services to said network entities in a manner that deterministically differentiates between at least two of said network entities in a session-aware manner based at least in part on one or more respective parameters associated with each of said at least two network entities, one or more respective parameters associated with particular requests for information management received from each of said at least two entities, or a combination thereof.

25. The method of claim 24, wherein said information management system comprises one of two or more edge information management nodes interconnected by an intelligent signal path in a clustered configuration;

wherein said signal path enables deterministic communication between said two or more clustered edge information management nodes to enable the deterministic management of manipulation of information between said two or more clustered edge information nodes so as to enable the delivery of said differentiated business service; and

wherein one of said clustered edge information management nodes is operated by a business entity different from a business entity that operates one of said other clustered edge information management nodes.

26. The method of claim 24, wherein said information management system comprises a content source, and wherein said request for information comprises a request for content.

27. The method of claim 24, wherein said information management system comprises a content delivery data center, and wherein said request for information comprises a request for content.

28. The method of claim 24, wherein said information management system comprises a network endpoint content delivery system, and wherein said request for information comprises a request for content.

29. The method of claim 15, wherein said information management system comprises a content delivery system supporting multiple tenants;

and wherein said method further comprises providing said information management services to said network entities in a manner that deterministically differentiates between at least two of said network entities in a session-aware manner based at least in part on one or more class of service parameters so as to provide at least one of multi-subscriber class of service capability, multi-content class of service capability, or a combination thereof to said multi-tenant content delivery system environment.

30. The method of claim 15, wherein said method further comprises allocating or reallocating information management resources based on one or more business objectives so as to differentiate between at least two of said network entities in a session-aware manner.

31. The method of claim 30, wherein said business objectives comprises at least one of service differentiation objectives, service level agreement objectives, information processing management objectives, or a combination thereof.

32. The method of claim 30, wherein said method further comprises dynamically allocating or re-allocating information resources based at least in part on one or more service level policies in order to sustain service level policy performance for at least one of said network entities.

33. The method of claim 15, wherein said at least two network entities comprise one or more tenants of said information management system, two or more subscribers of said tenants, or a combination thereof;

wherein at least one of said tenants supports two or more classes of service, and wherein at least one of said classes of service is subscribed to by two or more subscribers; and

wherein at least one of said information management services is provided to said network entities by said information management system in a manner that differentiates in a session-aware manner on at least one of a per tenant basis, per class basis, per subscriber basis, or a combination thereof.

34. The method of claim 33, wherein said information management system is operated by a host service provider providing co-located or managed service to said one or more tenants;

wherein said one or more tenants comprises an xSP or Enterprise provider providing one or more information management services to said two or more subscribers.

35. The method of claim 34, wherein said information management system is operated by a host service provider providing co-located or managed service to said one or more tenants;

wherein said one or more tenants comprises an xSP provider providing one or more information management services to said two or more subscribers; and

wherein said two or more subscribers comprise residential or business customers of said one or more tenants.

36. The method of claim 35, wherein said information management system comprises a content delivery system.

37. The method of claim 36, wherein said content delivery system comprises a network endpoint content delivery system.

39. The method of claim 1, wherein said providing said differentiated business service comprises providing one or more information services to two or more network entities using said information management system;

and wherein at least one of said information management services is provided to said network entities by said information management system in a manner that differentiates between at least two of said network entities.

40. The method of claim 39, wherein said plurality of distributively interconnected processing engines are configured to operate together in a deterministic manner

41. The method of claim 40, wherein said plurality of processing engines are distributively interconnected across a network.

42. The method of claim 39, wherein at least one of said plurality of processing engines is located geographically remote from one or more of said other processing engines.

43. The method of claim 39, wherein at least one of said plurality of processing engines is located in a separate chassis from one or more other of said processing engines in a common facility to form an information management data center node configuration in said common facility.

44. The method of claim 43, wherein said method further comprises providing differentiated business service on behalf of two or more tenant xSP'"'"'s from said information management data center node.

45. The method of claim 44, wherein said information management data center node is coupled to one or more core nodes of a network without the presence of intervening intermediate nodes, and wherein said providing comprises providing said differentiated business service directly to one or more core nodes of said network.

46. The method of claim 45, wherein at least one of said plurality of processing engines is present in a location that is geographically remote from one or more of said other processing engines.

47. The method of claim 39, wherein at least one of said plurality of processing engines is operated by a business entity different from the business entity that operates one or more of said other processing engines.

48. The method of claim 47, wherein one of said plurality of processing engines is operated by a first service provider;

wherein another of said plurality of processing engines is operated by a second service provider entity; and

wherein said first service provider entity is different from said second service provider entity.

49. The method of claim 47, wherein said plurality of distributively interconnected processing engines are configured to operate together in a deterministic manner;

and wherein said method further comprises virtually exchanging processing engine resources between said processing engines operated by different business entities.

50. The method of claim 49, wherein said method further comprises virtually exchanging said processing engine resources on an as-needed basis.

51. The method of claim 50, wherein at least one of said first and second service providers comprises a service provider that specializes in providing a commodity processing engine resource;

and wherein said method further comprises virtually exchanging said commodity processing engine resource on an as-needed basis.

52. The method of claim 50, wherein at least one of said first and second service providers comprises a service provider having excess processing engine resources;

and wherein said method further comprises virtually exchanging said excess processing engine resource on an as-needed basis.

53. The method of claim 49, wherein said method comprises virtually exchanging resources comprising at least one of information storage capacity, information processing capacity, or a combination thereof.

54. The method of claim 53, wherein said information management system comprises a content delivery system;

and wherein said information management comprises delivering content.

55. The method of claim 54, wherein said plurality of processing engines comprise a system management processing engine, a storage management processing engine, and an application processing engine.

56. The method of claim 55, wherein said method comprises:

receiving a request for content in said system management processing engine, said request for content being received from a network entity;

processing said request for content and any service level information associated with said request in said system management engine; and

notifying said storage management processing engine to deliver said requested content to said network entity requesting said content, wherein said content is delivered to said network entity in a differentiated manner.

57. The method of claim 56, wherein at least one of said system management processing engine, storage management processing engine, or application processing engine is located geographically remote from at least one of said other processing engines.

59. The method of claim 58, wherein said at least one information management system comprises an application serving node.

60. The method of claim 58, wherein said at least one information management system comprises a content delivery system.

61. The method of claim 58, wherein said information management system comprises a network endpoint information management system.

62. The method of claim 61, wherein said content delivery system comprises a network endpoint content delivery system.

63. The method of claim 58, wherein said at least one information management system comprises a storage virtualization node comprising a cluster of two or more content delivery systems coupled together in a content delivery management configuration.

64. The method of claim 58, wherein said information management system comprises at least one of an origin storage node, an edge storage node, an origin application serving node, an edge application serving node, an edge caching node, an edge content replication node, or a combination thereof.

65. The method of claim 58, wherein said two or more network entities each comprise respective individual business entities;

wherein said providing differentiated service comprises providing said one or more information management services or packages of information services to said two or more business entities in a manner that vertically differentiates said services or packages of services between said two or more business entities.

66. The method of claim 65, wherein said at least two individual business entities comprise at least one of co-tenants of said information management system, co-subscribers of information management services provided by said information management system, or a combination thereof.

67. The method of claim 58, wherein said two or more network entities each comprise respective individual business entities;

wherein said providing differentiated service comprises providing said one or more information management services or packages of information services to said two or more business entities in a manner that horizontally differentiates said services or packages of services between said two or more business entities.

68. The method of claim 67, wherein said method comprises providing two or more respective information management services or packages of information services associated with two or more different service provider entities to one or more tenant or subscriber entities of said service provider entities in a manner that horizontally differentiates each of said two or more respective information management services or packages of information services based on the respective service provider associated with each of said information management services or packages of information management services.

69. The method of claim 58, wherein said method further comprises providing said differentiated business service on behalf of two or more tenant xSP'"'"'s of said information management system.

70. The method of claim 69, wherein said information management system comprises an information management data center node.

71. The method of claim 70, wherein said information management data center node comprises a content delivery data center system.

72. The method of claim 58, wherein said method comprises providing said information management services or packages of information services from said information management system to said two or more network entities in a session-aware manner that is differentiated between said network entities.

13. A method of providing differentiated business service in a network environment, said method comprising providing one or more information management services to two or more network entities using an information management system coupled to said network;

wherein at least one of said information management services is provided to said network entities by said information management system in a manner that differentiates between at least two of said network entities in a session-aware manner.

38. A method of providing differentiated business service in an information management environment, said method comprising providing said differentiated business service using an information management system comprising a plurality of distributively interconnected processing engines;

and wherein at least one of said plurality of processing engines is located physically remote from one or more other of said processing engines, wherein at least one of said plurality of processing engines is operated by a business entity that is different from a business entity that operates one or more other of said other processing engines, or a combination thereof.

58. A method of providing differentiated business service in a network environment, said method comprising providing one or more information management services or packages of information services to two or more network entities in a manner that is differentiated between said network entities using an information management system coupled to said network;

and wherein said information management system comprises a deterministic system architecture.

73. A method of providing differentiated business service in a network environment, said method comprising providing one or more information management services or packages of information services to two or more network entities in a manner that is differentiated between said network entities using an information management system coupled to said network;

and wherein said information management system comprises a network endpoint information management system.

74. The method of claim 73, wherein said at least one information management system comprises a network endpoint application serving node.

75. The method of claim 73, wherein said at least one information management system comprises a network endpoint content delivery system.

76. The method of claim 73, wherein said two or more network entities each comprise respective individual business entities;

wherein said providing differentiated service comprises providing said one or more information management services or packages of information services to said two or more business entities in a manner that vertically differentiates said services or packages of services between said two or more business entities.

77. The method of claim 76, wherein said at least two individual business entities comprise at least one of co-tenants of said information management system, co-subscribers of information management services provided by said information management system, or a combination thereof.

78. The method of claim 73, wherein said two or more network entities each comprise respective individual business entities;

wherein said providing differentiated service comprises providing said one or more information management services or packages of information services to said two or more business entities in a manner that horizontally differentiates said services or packages of services between said two or more business entities.

79. The method of claim 78, wherein said method comprises providing two or more respective information management services or packages of information services associated with two or more different service provider entities to one or more tenant or subscriber entities of said service provider entities in a manner that horizontally differentiates each of said two or more respective information management services or packages of information services based on the respective service provider associated with each of said information management services or packages of information management services.

80. The method of claim 73, wherein said method further comprises providing said differentiated business service on behalf of two or more tenant xSP'"'"'s of said information management system.

81. The method of claim 80, wherein said information management system comprises a network endpoint information management data center node.

82. The method of claim 81, wherein said information management data center node comprises a network endpoint content delivery data center system.

83. The method of claim 73, wherein said method comprises providing said information management services or packages of information services from said information management system to said two or more network entities in a session-aware manner that is differentiated between said network entities.

84. A method of providing differentiated business service in a network environment, said method comprising providing one or more information management services or packages of information services to two or more network entities in a manner that is differentiated between said network entities using an information management system coupled to said network;

and wherein said information management system comprises a content source.

85. The method of claim 84, wherein said at least one information management system comprises a content delivery system.

86. The method of claim 85, wherein said content delivery system comprises a network endpoint content delivery system.

87. The method of claim 84, wherein said at least one information management system comprises a storage virtualization node comprising a cluster of two or more content delivery systems coupled together in a content delivery management configuration.

88. The method of claim 84, wherein said two or more network entities each comprise respective individual business entities;

wherein said providing differentiated service comprises providing said one or more information management services or packages of information services to said two or more business entities in a manner that vertically differentiates said services or packages of services between said two or more business entities.

89. The method of claim 88, wherein said at least two individual business entities comprise at least one of co-tenants of said information management system, co-subscribers of information management services provided by said information management system, or a combination thereof.

90. The method of claim 84, wherein said two or more network entities each comprise respective individual business entities;

wherein said providing differentiated service comprises providing said one or more information management services or packages of information services to said two or more business entities in a manner that horizontally differentiates said services or packages of services between said two or more business entities.

91. The method of claim 90, wherein said method comprises providing two or more respective information management services or packages of information services associated with two or more different service provider entities to one or more tenant or subscriber entities of said service provider entities in a manner that horizontally differentiates each of said two or more respective information management services or packages of information services based on the respective service provider associated with each of said information management services or packages of information management services.

92. The method of claim 84, wherein said method further comprises providing said differentiated business service on behalf of two or more tenant xSP'"'"'s of said information management system.

93. The method of claim 92, wherein said information management system comprises a content delivery data center system.

94. The method of claim 93, wherein said information management data center node comprises a content delivery data center system.

95. The method of claim 84, wherein said method comprises providing said information management services or packages of information services from said information management system to said two or more network entities in a session-aware manner that is differentiated between said network entities.

96. The method of claim 86, wherein said two or more network entities each comprise respective individual business entities;

wherein said providing differentiated service comprises providing said one or more information management services or packages of information services to said two or more business entities in a manner that vertically differentiates said services or packages of services between said two or more business entities.

97. The method of claim 96, wherein said at least two individual business entities comprise at least one of co-tenants of said information management system, co-subscribers of information management services provided by said information management system, or a combination thereof.

98. The method of claim 86, wherein said two or more network entities each comprise respective individual business entities;

wherein said providing differentiated service comprises providing said one or more information management services or packages of information services to said two or more business entities in a manner that horizontally differentiates said services or packages of services between said two or more business entities.

99. The method of claim 98, wherein said method comprises providing two or more respective information management services or packages of information services associated with two or more different service provider entities to one or more tenant or subscriber entities of said service provider entities in a manner that horizontally differentiates each of said two or more respective information management services or packages of information services based on the respective service provider associated with each of said information management services or packages of information management services.

100. The method of claim 86, wherein said method further comprises providing said differentiated business service on behalf of two or more tenant xSP'"'"'s of said information management system.

101. The method of claim 100, wherein said information management system comprises a content delivery data center system.

102. The method of claim 101, wherein said information management data center node comprises a content delivery data center system.

103. The method of claim 86, wherein said method comprises providing said information management services or packages of information services from said information management system to said two or more network entities in a session-aware manner that is differentiated between said network entities.

104. A method of providing differentiated business services, comprising providing differentiated business services using an information management node coupled to a network, said information management node comprising a content source.

105. The method of claim 104, wherein said core of said network has excess information throughput capacity, and wherein said information management node is capacity-constrained.

106. The method of claim 104, wherein said providing differentiated business services comprises delivering content from said content source according to two or more different content delivery models.

107. The method of claim 106, wherein said two or more different content delivery models comprise content delivery quality models, content delivery price models, or a combination thereof.

108. The method of claim 106, wherein said two or more content delivery models comprise two or more differentiated classes of service.

109. The method of claim 108, wherein said two or more content delivery models further comprise two or more differentiated qualities of service implemented on at least one of a per-class of service basis, per-subscriber basis, or a combination thereof.

110. The method of claim 107, wherein said content comprises streaming content, and wherein said providing differentiated business services comprises delivering said streaming content from said content source according to two or more different content delivery quality models, at least one of said different content delivery quality models representing delivery of content at a stream rate different from another of said content delivery quality models.

111. The method of claim 107, wherein said providing differentiated business services comprises delivering said streaming content from said content source according to two or more different content delivery quality models, at least one of said content delivery quality models representing delivery of content with an ad insertion policy different from another of said content delivery quality models.

112. The method of claim 111, wherein at least one of said content delivery quality models represents delivery of content with ad insertion and another of said content delivery quality models represents delivery of content without ad insertion.

114. The method of claim 113, wherein said two or more different content delivery models are user-selectable on at least one of a real time basis, on a per-content request basis, or a combination thereof.

115. The method of claim 113, wherein said two or more different user-selectable content delivery models are based at least in part on two or more respective user-selectable SLA policies.

117. The method of claim 113, wherein said two or more different selectable content delivery models are based at least in part on two or more respective SLA policies selectable by said information management node.

118. The method of claim 116, wherein said two or more different content delivery models are selectable by said information management node on at least one of a real time basis, on a per-content request basis, or a combination thereof.

119. The method of claim 107, wherein said providing differentiated business services comprises delivering content from said content source according to two or more different content delivery price models.

120. The method of claim 104, wherein said method further comprises generating billing information for said content delivery, said billing information comprising information generated based at least in part on information management costs associated with delivering said content to said network.

121. The method of claim 119, wherein said method further comprises generating billing information for content delivered according to at least one of said content delivery price models, said billing information comprising information generated based at least in part on said at least one content delivery price model.

122. The method of claim 104, wherein said providing differentiated business services comprises delivering content to said network from said content source according to two or more different customized content delivery models, said customized content delivery models being based on one or more network characteristics associated with a user requesting said content delivery, one or more system or subsystem characteristics associated with said content delivery system, or a combination thereof.

123. The method of claim 122, wherein said customized content delivery models are based on characteristics associated with the last mile network infrastructure of a user requesting said content delivery.

124. The method of claim 123, wherein said method further comprises ascertaining said characteristics associated with said last mile infrastructure, deriving one or more customized content delivery models based on said ascertained infrastructure characteristics, and offering said one or more customized content delivery models to said user.

125. The method of claim 122, wherein said characteristic associated with said user comprises SLA policy information.

126. The method of claim 122, wherein said one or more system or subsystem characteristics associated with said content delivery system comprise at least one of subsystem or system resource utilization at the time of content delivery.

127. The method of claim 104, wherein said providing differentiated business services comprises delivering content from said content source according to two or more different customized content delivery models, said customized content delivery models being based on one or more characteristics associated with a request for delivery of said content.

128. The method of claim 127, wherein said characteristics associate with a request for delivery of said content comprise at least one of popularity of said requested content, time of day of said request for content, or a combination thereof.

129. The method of claim 113, wherein said two or more different content delivery models each comprise a combination of content delivery quality model and content delivery price model.

130. The method of claim 107, wherein said method further comprises delivering content from said content source as part of a video on demand content delivery operation.

132. The method of claim 131, wherein said network resources comprise at least one of processing resources, storage resources, or a combination thereof.

133. The method of claim 131, wherein said information utility service management infrastructure is controlled by an information utility provider.

134. The method of claim 132, wherein said method further comprises providing said network resources to a plurality of network entities in a manner compatible with a plurality of application types.

135. The method of claim 134, wherein said plurality of network entities comprise at least one of application service providers, storage service providers, or a combination thereof.

136. The method of claim 134, wherein said information utility service management infrastructure comprises a deterministic system architecture capable of providing differentiated information service.

137. The method of claim 136, wherein said deterministic system architecture comprises a plurality of distributively interconnected processing engines.

138. The method of claim 136, wherein said deterministic system architecture comprises a plurality of processing engines distributively interconnected across a network.

140. The method of claim 139, wherein said information management system comprises an application serving node.

141. The method of claim 139, wherein said information management system comprises a content delivery system.

142. The method of claim 139, wherein said information management system comprises a network endpoint information management system.

143. The method of claim 142, wherein said content delivery system comprises a network endpoint content delivery system.

144. The method of claim 139, wherein said information management system comprises a storage virtualization node comprising a cluster of two or more content delivery systems coupled together in a content delivery management configuration.

145. The method of claim 139, wherein said information management system comprises at least one of an origin storage node, an edge storage node, an origin application serving node, an edge application serving node, an edge caching node, an edge content replication node, or a combination thereof.

146. The method of claim 139, wherein said two or more network entities each comprise respective individual business entities;

wherein said providing differentiated service comprises providing said one or more information management services or packages of information services to said two or more business entities in a manner that vertically differentiates said services or packages of services between said two or more business entities.

147. The method of claim 146, wherein said at least two individual business entities comprise at least one of co-tenants of said information management system, co-subscribers of information management services provided by said information management system, or a combination thereof.

148. The method of claim 139, wherein said two or more network entities each comprise respective individual business entities;

wherein said providing differentiated service comprises providing said one or more information management services or packages of information services to said two or more business entities in a manner that horizontally differentiates said services or packages of services between said two or more business entities.

149. The method of claim 148, wherein said method comprises providing two or more respective information management services or packages of information services associated with two or more different service provider entities to one or more tenant or subscriber entities of said service provider entities in a manner that horizontally differentiates each of said two or more respective information management services or packages of information services based on the respective service provider associated with each of said information management services or packages of information management services.

150. The method of claim 139, wherein said method further comprises providing said differentiated business service on behalf of two or more tenant xSP'"'"'s of said information management system.

151. The method of claim 150, wherein said information management system comprises an information management data center node.

152. The method of claim 151, wherein said information management data center node comprises a content delivery data center system.

153. The method of claim 139, wherein said information management system comprises an intermediate traffic management node or an edge information management node;

and wherein said method comprises providing said information management services or packages of information services from said intermediate traffic management node or edge information management node to said two or more network entities in a session-aware manner that is differentiated between said network entities.

154. The method of claim 153, wherein said intermediate traffic management node is coupled between a network endpoint information management system and one or more intermediate or core nodes of said network, and wherein said providing comprises providing said information management services or packages of information services directly to said one or more intermediate or core nodes of said network.

155. The method of claim 153, wherein said edge information management node is coupled to one or more core nodes of said network without the presence of intervening intermediate nodes, and wherein said providing comprises providing said information management services or packages of information services directly to said one or core nodes of said network.

157. The system of claim 156, wherein said information management system comprises an application serving node.

158. The system of claim 156, wherein said information management system comprises a content delivery system.

159. The system of claim 156, wherein said information management system comprises a network endpoint information management system.

160. The method of claim 159, wherein said content delivery system comprises a network endpoint content delivery system.

161. The system of claim 156, wherein said information management system further comprises an information utility service management infrastructure capable of providing network resources to said network

163. The system of claim 162, wherein said network resources comprise at least one of processing resources, storage resources, or a combination thereof.

164. The system of claim 163, wherein said system is capable of providing said network resources to a plurality of network entities in a manner compatible with a plurality of application types.

165. The system of claim 164, wherein said information utility service management infrastructure comprises a deterministic system architecture capable of providing differentiated information service.

166. The system of claim 165, wherein said deterministic system architecture comprises a plurality of distributively interconnected processing engines.

167. The system of claim 165, wherein said deterministic system architecture comprises a plurality of processing engines distributively interconnected across a network.

113. The method of 107, wherein said two or more different content delivery models are user-selectable.

116. The method of 107, wherein said two or more different content delivery models are selectable by said information management node.

131. A method of providing differentiated business services to a network, comprising providing differentiated business service using an information utility service management infrastructure to provide network resources to said network.

139. A method of providing differentiated business service in a network environment, said method comprising providing one or more information management services or packages of information services to two or more network entities in a manner that is differentiated between said network entities using an information management system coupled to said network;

and wherein at least one of;

said information management services or packages of information services are provided to said two or more network entities in a manner that is differentiated between said network entities in a session-aware manner;

or

said information management system comprises a plurality of distributively interconnected processing engines, and wherein at least one of said plurality of processing engines is located physically remote from one or more other of said processing engines or wherein at least one of said plurality of processing engines is operated by a business entity that is different from a business entity that operates one or more other of said other processing engines, or a combination thereof;

or

said information management system comprises an information source;

or

said information management system comprises a deterministic system architecture;

or

said information management system comprises a network endpoint information management system;

or

said information management system comprises an information utility service management infrastructure capable of providing network resources to said network;

or

a combination thereof.

156. A system for providing differentiated business service in a network environment, said system comprising an information management system capable of providing one or more information management services or packages of information services to two or more network entities in a manner that is differentiated between said network entities;

and wherein;

information management system is capable of providing said information management services or packages of information services to said two or more network entities in a manner that is differentiated between said network entities in a session-aware manner;

or

said information management system comprises a deterministic system architecture;

or

said information management system comprises a network endpoint information management system;

or

a combination thereof.

162. A system for providing differentiated business services to a network, comprising an information utility service management infrastructure capable of providing network resources to said network.