Method for caching and delivery of compressed content in a content delivery network
First Claim
1. A server operative in a content delivery network, comprising:
- a compression utility;
code responsive to a first metadata tag for applying the compression utility to given first content prior to caching; and
code responsive to a second metadata tag for applying the compression utility to given second content prior to serving.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A content delivery network (CDN) edge server is provisioned to provide last mile acceleration of content to requesting end users. The CDN edge server fetches, compresses and caches content obtained from a content provider origin server, and serves that content in compressed form in response to receipt of an end user request for that content. It also provides “on-the-fly” compression of otherwise uncompressed content as such content is retrieved from cache and is delivered in response to receipt of an end user request for such content. A preferred compression routine is gzip, as most end user browsers support the capability to decompress files that are received in this format. The compression functionality preferably is enabled on the edge server using customer-specific metadata tags.
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Citations
26 Claims
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1. A server operative in a content delivery network, comprising:
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a compression utility;
code responsive to a first metadata tag for applying the compression utility to given first content prior to caching; and
code responsive to a second metadata tag for applying the compression utility to given second content prior to serving. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. In a content delivery network (CDN) edge server having a processor, a cache, an HTTP server-side request handling routine and an HTTP client-side request handling routine, the improvement comprising:
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a first compression routine associated with the server-side request handling routine;
a second compression routine associated with the client-side request handling routine; and
a metadata routine (a) responsive to a first metadata tag associated with a given first piece of content for applying the first compression routine to the given first piece of content, and (b) responsive to a second metadata tag associated with a given second piece of content for applying the second compression routine to the given second piece of content. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A content delivery method operative at an edge server to which an end user has been directed by a CDN request routing mechanism, the edge server having a cache, comprising the unordered steps of:
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upon receipt of a request for given first content that cannot be serviced at the edge server, fetching the given first content from an origin server;
determining whether a first metadata tag is associated with the given first content;
if the first metadata tag is associated with the given first content, compressing the given first content prior to caching in the edge server;
upon receipt of a request for given second content cached at the edge server, fetching the given second content from cache;
determining whether a second metadata tag is associated with the given second content; and
if the second metadata tag is, associated with the given second content, compressing the given second content as it is being served from the edge server. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. A content delivery method operative at an edge server to which an end user has been directed by a CDN request routing mechanism, the edge server having a cache, comprising:
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upon receipt of a request for given content from the end user that cannot be serviced at the edge server, fetching the given content from an origin server;
determining whether the given content should be stored in the cache in an uncompressed or compressed form by evaluating a function trading off anticipated storage time in the cache versus processing overhead required to perform the compression; and
selectively storing the given content either uncompressed or compressed based on the determination. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20)
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21. A content delivery method operative at an edge server to which an end user has been directed by a CDN request routing mechanism, the edge server having a cache, comprising:
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upon receipt of a request for given content from the end, fetching an uncompressed form of the given content from the cache; and
selectively compressing the given content as the given content is being delivered to the end user in response to the request as a function of given metadata. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23)
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24. A content delivery method operative at an edge server to which an end user has been directed by a CDN request routing mechanism, the edge server having a cache, comprising:
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upon receipt of a request for given content from the end user that cannot be serviced at the edge server, fetching the given content from an origin server;
determining whether the given content should be served from the cache in an uncompressed or compressed form by evaluating a function trading off anticipated performance benefit, anticipated storage time in the cache, and processing overhead required to perform the compression; and
selectively serving the given content either uncompressed or compressed based on the determination.
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25. A content delivery method operative at an edge server to which end users are directed by a CDN request routing mechanism, the edge server having a cache, comprising:
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with respect to a first request for given content, making a first determination as to whether the given content should be stored in the cache in an uncompressed or compressed form, or whether the given content should be served from the cache in an uncompressed or compressed form; and
with respect to a second request for the given content, making a determination, independent of the first determination and/or as a byproduct of the first determination, as to whether the given content should be stored in the cache in an uncompressed or compressed form, or whether the given content should be served from the cache in an uncompressed or compressed form.
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26. A managed service provided on behalf of an origin server at which a content provider publishes given content, comprising:
a server, managed by an entity other than the content provider, for providing the given content to a requesting client, the server comprising;
a cache;
a compression routine; and
a mechanism for selectively storing or serving the given content in compressed form.
Specification