Method and system for tiered distribution in a content delivery network
First Claim
1. A method operative in a content delivery network (CDN) having a set of surrogate origin servers organized into regions and that provide content delivery on behalf of participating content providers, wherein a given content provider operates an origin server, comprising:
- establishing a cache hierarchy in the CDN comprising a given surrogate origin server region and one of;
(a) a single parent region located in a given location, and (b) a subset of parent regions located in given core Internet locations;
in response to a determination that a given object request cannot be serviced in the given surrogate origin server region, directing the given object request to the single parent region or to a given one of the subset of parent regions instead of to an origin server, wherein the directing step is based on content provider-specific metadata associated with the given object request and includes the sub-steps of rewriting a first data string associated with the given obiect request into a second data string that points to the cache hierarchy and resolving the second data string, wherein if the directing step directs the given object request to one of the subset of parent regions, the second data string is resolved to identify a best core region and an optimal server in the best core region to service the given object request; and
attempting to service the given object request in the single parent region or the given one of the subset of parent regions as determined by the directing step.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A tiered distribution service is provided in a content delivery network (CDN) having a set of surrogate origin (namely, “edge”) servers organized into regions and that provide content delivery on behalf of participating content providers, wherein a given content provider operates an origin server. According to the invention, a cache hierarchy is established in the CDN comprising a given edge server region and either (a) a single parent region, or (b) a subset of the edge server regions. In response to a determination that a given object request cannot be serviced in the given edge region, instead of contacting the origin server, the request is provided to either the single parent region or to a given one of the subset of edge server regions for handling, preferably as a function of metadata associated with the given object request. The given object request is then serviced, if possible, by a given CDN server in either the single parent region or the given subset region. The original request is only forwarded on to the origin server if the request cannot be serviced by an intermediate node.
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Citations
11 Claims
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1. A method operative in a content delivery network (CDN) having a set of surrogate origin servers organized into regions and that provide content delivery on behalf of participating content providers, wherein a given content provider operates an origin server, comprising:
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establishing a cache hierarchy in the CDN comprising a given surrogate origin server region and one of;
(a) a single parent region located in a given location, and (b) a subset of parent regions located in given core Internet locations;in response to a determination that a given object request cannot be serviced in the given surrogate origin server region, directing the given object request to the single parent region or to a given one of the subset of parent regions instead of to an origin server, wherein the directing step is based on content provider-specific metadata associated with the given object request and includes the sub-steps of rewriting a first data string associated with the given obiect request into a second data string that points to the cache hierarchy and resolving the second data string, wherein if the directing step directs the given object request to one of the subset of parent regions, the second data string is resolved to identify a best core region and an optimal server in the best core region to service the given object request; and attempting to service the given object request in the single parent region or the given one of the subset of parent regions as determined by the directing step. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11)
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9. A method operative in a content delivery network having a set of surrogate origin servers organized into regions and that provide content delivery on behalf of participating content providers, wherein a given content provider operates an origin server, comprising:
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establishing a cache hierarchy in the CDN comprising a given surrogate origin server region and one of;
(a) a single parent region, and (b) a subset of the parent server regions;in response to a determination that a given object request cannot be serviced in the given surrogate origin server region, attempting to service the request from a peer in the given surrogate origin server region; if the request cannot be serviced from a peer in the given surrogate origin server region, providing the given object request to the single parent region or to a given one of the subset of parent regions instead of to an origin server, wherein the providing step is based on content provider-specific metadata associated with the given object request and includes the sub-steps of rewriting a first data string associated with the given object request into a second data string that points to the cache hierarchy and resolving the second data string, wherein if the directing step directs the given object request to one of the subset of parent regions, the second data string is resolved to identify a best core region and an optimal server in the best core region to service the given object request; and attempting to service the given object request in the single parent region or the given one of the subset of parent regions as determined by the providing step.
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Specification