Content delivery network (CDN) replication status reporter
First Claim
1. In an information services network having channels, each channel including a plurality of content items, a management server and a group of content servers, at least one channel including items to be served from at least one content server in the group of content servers, where channel items vary over time, and items are replicated from origin servers to the content servers that serve the channel, a method of reporting replication status from the group of content servers in a channel comprising:
- maintaining a channel description of content via a sequence of change events, each event indicative of action for a particular file and each event having an associated incrementing event number such that each successive event has an increasing event number;
identifying, upon completion of a particular change event, the event number corresponding to the event as completed, the change events further comprising ordering categories, each of the change events corresponding to one of a plurality of ordering categories, the ordering categories indicative of an alternate ordering criteria;
reporting, for each of a plurality of content servers in the channel, an indication of event completion via a threshold event number, the threshold number being a progression threshold corresponding to a point of progression in the incrementing event numbers, the channel description maintained as status information in the content servers, the status information including the progression threshold within each of the ordering categories, wherein the replication status report omits transmitting cumulative, file specific information deterministic from the progression threshold; and
aggregating reports from the plurality of content servers to obtain a global status report.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Conventional replication status reporting techniques in a Content Delivery Network (CDN) tend to produce large, unwieldy reports which are difficult to transmit, consume large amounts of bandwidth, and require a large share of CPU resources to process. A replication status reporter which identifies an ordered list of events corresponding to content items (files) for replication (pre-positioning) in a content delivery network, and determines a point of progression along a sequence represented by the ordered list of files, allows a management server to avoid computationally expensive endeavors which itemize and transmit lists of every replicated file in the CDN. The servers in a CDN channel receive files as a series of ordered events. Origin servers deliver the files generally according the event. A replication status report indicates the progression in the list, rather than enumerating the entire list, avoids cumbersome and unnecessary processing and delays in reporting replication status.
127 Citations
45 Claims
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1. In an information services network having channels, each channel including a plurality of content items, a management server and a group of content servers, at least one channel including items to be served from at least one content server in the group of content servers, where channel items vary over time, and items are replicated from origin servers to the content servers that serve the channel, a method of reporting replication status from the group of content servers in a channel comprising:
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maintaining a channel description of content via a sequence of change events, each event indicative of action for a particular file and each event having an associated incrementing event number such that each successive event has an increasing event number; identifying, upon completion of a particular change event, the event number corresponding to the event as completed, the change events further comprising ordering categories, each of the change events corresponding to one of a plurality of ordering categories, the ordering categories indicative of an alternate ordering criteria; reporting, for each of a plurality of content servers in the channel, an indication of event completion via a threshold event number, the threshold number being a progression threshold corresponding to a point of progression in the incrementing event numbers, the channel description maintained as status information in the content servers, the status information including the progression threshold within each of the ordering categories, wherein the replication status report omits transmitting cumulative, file specific information deterministic from the progression threshold; and aggregating reports from the plurality of content servers to obtain a global status report. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. A data communications device comprising:
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a processor; an interface to an information services network having channels, each channel including a plurality of content items, a management server and a group of content servers, at least one channel including items to be served from at least one content server in the group of content servers, where channel items vary over time, and items are replicated from origin servers to the content servers that serve the channel, a method of reporting replication status from the group of content servers in a channel; and a memory, the memory operable to store instructions, the processor operable on the instructions to; maintain a channel description of content via a sequence of changes events each event change indicative of action for a particular file and each change having an associated incrementing event number such that each successive event has an increasing event number; identify, upon completion of a particular change event, the event number corresponding to the event as completed, the change events further comprising ordering categories, each of the change events corresponding to one of a plurality of ordering categories, the ordering categories indicative of an alternative ordering criteria; report, for each of a plurality of content servers in the channel, an indication of event completion via a threshold event number, the threshold number being a progression threshold corresponding to a point of progression in the incrementing event numbers, the channel description maintained as status information in the content servers, the status information including the progression threshold within each of the ordering categories, wherein the replication status report omits transmitting cumulative, file specific information deterministic from the progression threshold; and aggregate reports from the plurality of content servers to obtain a global status report. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28)
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29. A method for reporting replication status of media content in a content delivery network (CDN) comprising:
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identifying a set of content items for replication at a content server; enumerating a set of change events indicative of content items received, via the replication, at the content server from the identified set of content items, the change events further comprising ordering categories, each of the change events corresponding to one of a plurality of ordering categories, the ordering categories indicative of an alternate ordering criteria; and reporting the enumerated content items received by indicating a progression threshold within each of the ordering categories in the identified set corresponding to the enumerated content items, the reporting omitting transmitting cumulative, the specific information deterministic from the progression threshold. - View Dependent Claims (30, 31, 32, 33)
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34. A data communications device for reporting replication status of media content in a content delivery network (CDN) comprising:
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at least one content server operable to receive a channel manifest identifying a set of content items for replication at the content server and further operable to fetch the identified content items from at least one origin server in communication with the content server; a catalog indicative of content items in the channel manifest received by the content server from the origin servers; a replication status daemon operable to enumerate set a set of change events indicative of content items received at the content server from the identified set of content items in the channel, the change events further comprising ordering categories, each of the change events corresponding to one of a plurality of ordering categories, the ordering categories indicative of an alternate ordering criteria; and a replication status reporter operable to report the enumerated content received by indicating a progression threshold within each of the ordering categories in the identified set of content items corresponding to the enumerated content received by the content server, the replication status reporter omitting transmitting cumulative, file specific information deterministic from the progression threshold. - View Dependent Claims (35, 36, 37, 38)
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39. A method for generating replication status reports indicative of a replication status of media content items in a content delivery network (CDN) comprising:
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identifying a plurality of content channels, each of the content channels having at least one content server operable to receive, store, and deliver content items to a plurality of users; enumerating a set of change events indicative of a plurality of media content items within each of the identified channels, the channels indicative of a relationship to a plurality of users, the change events further comprising ordering categories, each of the change events corresponding to one of a plurality of ordering categories, the ordering categories indicative of an alternate ordering criteria; identifying at least one origin server in communication with the content servers, the origin servers having media content items corresponding to the content channels; replicating, by transmitting from the origin servers to the content servers, the enumerated content items; identifying, by an event number, the transmitted content items received by each of the content servers; computing a progression threshold within each of the ordering categories indicative of the transmitted content items; and generating, by a replication status reporter at each of the content servers, a replication status report indicative of the progression threshold event numbers, the generating omitting transmitting cumulative, file specific information deterministic from the progression threshold. - View Dependent Claims (40, 41, 42)
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43. A system for propagating media content and reporting replication status of media content in a content delivery network (CDN) comprising:
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at least one content server operable to identify a set of content items for replication at a content server; a replication status daemon in the at least one content server operable to enumerate a set of change events indicative of content items received at the content server from the identified set of content items, the change events further comprising ordering categories, each of the change events corresponding to one of a plurality of ordering categories, the ordering categories indicative of an alternate ordering criteria; and a replication status reporter in the at least one content server operable to report the enumerated content received by indicating a progression threshold within each of the ordering categories in the identified set corresponding to the enumerated content items, the replication status reporter omitting transmitting cumulative, file specific information deterministic from the progression threshold.
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44. A computer program product having a computer readable medium operable to store computer program logic embodied in computer program code encoded thereon for reporting replication status of media content in a content delivery network (CDN) comprising:
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computer program code for identifying a set of content items for replication at a content server; computer program code for enumerating a set of change events indicative of content items received at the content server from the identified set of content items, the change events further comprising ordering categories, each of the change events corresponding to one of a plurality of ordering categories, the ordering categories indicative of an alternate ordering criteria; and computer program code for reporting the enumerated content received by indicating a progression threshold within each of the ordering categories in the identified set corresponding to the enumerated content items, the reporting omitting transmitting cumulative, file specific information deterministic for the progression threshold.
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45. A data communications device for reporting replication status of media content in a content delivery network (CDN) comprising:
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means for identifying a set of content items for replication at a content server; means for enumerating a set of change events indicative of content items received at the content server from the identified set of content items, the change events further comprising ordering categories, each of the change events corresponding to one of a plurality of ordering categories, the ordering categories indicative of an alternate ordering criteria; and means for reporting the enumerated content received by indicating a progression threshold within each of the ordering categories in the identified set corresponding to the enumerated content items, the reporting omitting transmitting cumulative, file specific information deterministic from the progression threshold.
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Specification