REDIRECTION CONTENT REQUESTS

• US 20150195354A1
• Filed: 03/22/2015
• Published: 07/09/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 06/25/2009
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Fortinet Inc.
• Original Assignee: Fortinet Inc.
• Inventors: Lyon, Barrett Gibson
• Application Number:
  US14/664,880
• Publication Number:
  US 20150195354A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/0876 Network utilisation, e.g. volume of load or congestion level
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/01 Protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/10 in which an application is distributed across nodes in the network software deployment G06F8/60; multiprogramming arrangements G06F9/46
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/63 Routing a service request depending on the request content or context
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2385 Channel allocation H04N21/266 takes precedence; Bandwidth allocation H04N21/24 takes precedence ; allocation of channels according to the instantaneous demands of the users in time-division multiplex systems H04J3/1682; admission control, resource allocation in open networks H04L12/5692; arrangements for maintenance or administration in data switching networks involving bandwidth and capacity management H04L41/0896; negotiating bandwidth in wireless networks H04W28/16
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2393 involving handling client requests scheduling or organising the servicing of application requests H04L67/60
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6581 Reference data, e.g. a movie identifier for ordering a movie or a product identifier in a home shopping application

Abstract

Methods and systems for redirecting content requests are provided. According to one embodiment, a subscription request from a publisher is received by a redirect host. The subscription request includes a content delivery policy and requests the redirect host to service requests for content published by the publisher. The content is hosted by servers of the publisher residing within a private network. A client request is received by the redirect host for content. It is determined based on the content delivery policy whether to select a publisher server to service the request. If not, then: (i) a redirection is made to a registered resource provider of a CDN configured to deliver content on behalf of the publisher; and (ii) information is logged to facilitate billing of the publisher and reimbursement of the registered resource provider; otherwise, a redirection is made to the selected server.

Claims

1. A method for redirecting a content request, comprising:

receiving, by a redirect host device within a public network, a subscription request from a publisher indicating the publisher'"'"'s desire to subscribe to services of the redirect host device for servicing requests for content published by the publisher, wherein the subscription request is associated with a content delivery policy specified by the publisher and wherein the content is hosted by one or more servers of the publisher residing within a private network of the publisher;

receiving, by the redirect host device, a request from a client for a subset of the content, wherein the redirect host devise is configured to redirect the requests for content in accordance with the specified content delivery policy;

determining, by the redirect host device, based on the specified content delivery policy whether to select a server of the one or more servers of the publisher to service the request;

when a result of said determining is negative, then;

redirecting, by the redirect host device, the client or the request to a registered resource provider of a content delivery network (CDN) external to the private network, wherein the CDN is configured to deliver content on behalf of the publisher; and

logging, by the redirect host device, information regarding servicing of the request by the registered resource provider to facilitate billing of the publisher and reimbursement of the registered resource provider; and

when the result of said determining is affirmative, then redirecting, by the redirect host device, the client or request to the selected server of the one or more servers of the publisher.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein said determining whether to select a server of the one or more servers of the publisher to service the request is based on one or more of:

the content requested, the requesting client, availability of the server of the one or more servers of the publisher to service the request, geography, load balancing, and cache locality of the content requested.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the selected server comprises an origin server to which the content requested was originally published.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the selected server is part of a data center or a server farm.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein said determining is based on the specified content delivery policy whether to select a server of the one or more servers of the publisher to service the request is further based on the server'"'"'s capability to service the request.

6. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium tangibly embodying a set of instructions, which when executed by one or more processors of a redirect host device within a public network, cause the one or more processors to perform a method for redirecting content requests comprising:

receiving a subscription request from a publisher indicating the publisher'"'"'s desire to subscribe to services of the redirect host device for servicing requests for content published by the publisher, wherein the subscription request is associated with a content delivery policy specified by the publisher and wherein the content is hosted by one or more servers of the publisher residing within a private network of the publisher;

receiving a request from a client for a subset of the content, wherein the redirect host is configured to redirect the requests for content in accordance with the specified content delivery policy;

determining based on the specified content delivery policy whether to select a server of the one or more servers of the publisher to service the request;

when a result of said determining is negative, then;

redirecting the client or the request to a registered resource provider of a content delivery network (CDN) external to the private network, wherein the CDN is configured to deliver content on behalf of the publisher; and

logging information regarding servicing of the request by the registered resource provider to facilitate billing of the publisher and reimbursement of the registered resource provider; and

when the result of said determining is affirmative, then redirecting the client or request to the selected server of the one or more servers of the publisher.

7. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 6, wherein said determining whether to select a server of the one or more servers of the publisher to service the request is based on one or more of:

the content requested, the requesting client, availability of the server of the one or more servers of the publisher to service the request, geography, load balancing, and cache locality of the content requested.

8. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 6, wherein the selected server comprises an origin server to which the content requested was originally published.

9. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 6, wherein the selected server is part of a data center or a server farm.

10. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 6, wherein said determining is based on the specified content delivery policy whether to select a server of the one or more servers of the publisher to service the request is further based on the server'"'"'s capability to service the request.