HTML delivery from edge-of-network servers in a content delivery network (CDN)

• US 7,596,619 B2
• Filed: 11/05/2007
• Issued: 09/29/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 04/17/2000
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Akamai Technologies, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Akamai Technologies, Inc.
• Inventors: Leighton, F. Thomson, Lewin, Daniel M., Lewin, legal representative
• Primary Examiner(s): Neurauter, Jr.; George C
• Application Number:
  US11/934,894
• Publication Number:
  US 20080065745A1
• Time in Patent Office: 694 Days
• Field of Search: 709/219, 709/226, 709/235, 707/10, 718/105
• US Class Current: 709/226
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/04 Processing captured monitoring data, e.g. for logfile generation
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/00 Network arrangements, protocols or services for addressing or naming
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/45 Network directories; Name-to-address mapping
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/02 based on web technology, e.g. hypertext transfer protocol [HTTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1001 for accessing one among a plurality of replicated servers
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1008 based on parameters of servers, e.g. available memory or workload monitoring of computer activity G06F11/30
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1021 based on client or server locations
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/56 Provisioning of proxy services store-and-forward switching systems in data switching networks H04L12/54
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/568 Storing data temporarily at an intermediate stage, e.g. caching

Abstract

A content delivery network is enhanced to provide for delivery of cacheable markup language content files such as HTML. To support HTML delivery, the content provider provides the CDNSP with an association of the content provider'"'"'s domain name (e.g., www.customer.com) to an origin server domain name (e.g., html.customer.com) at which one or more default HTML files are published and hosted. The CDNSP provides its customer with a CDNSP-specific domain name. The content provider, or an entity on its behalf, then implements DNS entry aliasing (e.g., a CNAME of the host to the CDNSP-specific domain) so that domain name requests for the host cue the CDN DNS request routing mechanism. This mechanism then identifies a best content server to respond to a request directed to the customer'"'"'s domain. The CDN content server returns a default HTML file if such file is cached; otherwise, the CDN content server directs a request for the file to the origin server to retrieve the file, after which the file is cached on the CDN content server for subsequent use in servicing other requests. The content provider is also provided with log files of CDNSP-delivered HTML.

Claims

1. A content delivery network (CDN) for use by participating content providers, comprising:

a domain name service managed by a CDN service provider (CDNSP) and authoritative only for given content domains associated with the participating content providers; and

a set of content servers operated by the CDNSP;

wherein, following an end-user request for a web page that is directed to a participating content provider domain, the domain name service uses a CDNSP-specific domain to identify an IP address associated with a CDN content server of the set of content servers operated by the CDNSP;

wherein the CDN content server includes code (i) that determines whether a default markup language file associated with the web page exists on the CDN content server, (b) that is responsive to a determination that the default markup language file exists on the CDN content server for serving the default markup language file in response to the end-user request for the web page, (c) that is responsive to a determination that the default markup language file does not exist on the CDN content server for directing a request for the default markup language file to a second server, for receiving from the second server the default markup language file, for serving the default markup language file in response to the end-user request for the web page, and for caching the default markup language file for a given time and (d) that logs data associated with the default markup language file served from the CDN content server.

2. The content delivery network as described in claim 1 wherein the participating content provider domain is associated with the CDNSP-specific domain by DNS entry aliasing.

3. The content delivery network as described in claim 1 wherein the second server is a content provider origin server.

4. The content delivery network as described in claim 1 wherein the determination that the default markup language file exists on the CDN content server examines whether the default markup language file is stored in association with the CDN content server and, if so, whether a timestamp associated with the default markup language file is expired.

5. The content delivery network as described in claim 4 wherein the determination that the default markup language file does not exist is based on a determination that the timestamp associated with the default markup language file is expired.

6. The content delivery network as described in claim 1 wherein the data associated with the default markup language file served from the CDN content server comprises a number of page views.

7. The content delivery network as described in claim 1 wherein the data associated with the default markup language file served from the CDN content server comprises statistics segmented by geo-location.

8. The content delivery network as described in claim 1 wherein the data associated with the default markup language file served from the CDN content server comprises one of:

cookie data, referrer data, user agent data, and content type data.

9. The content delivery network as described in claim 1 wherein the IP address is an IP address of the CDN content server.

10. The content delivery network as described in claim 1 wherein the default markup language file is one of:

an HTML file, an XML file, an HDML file, and a WML file.