Method and apparatus for transferring content among large clusters of storage devices to achieve a target replication distribution
First Claim
1. A content distribution network, comprising:
- a content server that stores a set of content items;
a plurality of gateways for storing and serving content requests to a subset of the content items, the plurality of gateways being grouped into a plurality of classes of gateways; and
a plurality of class trackers corresponding to the plurality of classes of gateways;
wherein each class tracker manages a placement of content items and an assignment of content requests for its corresponding class of gateways;
wherein the plurality of class trackers exchange congestion signals among themselves;
wherein, for each content item, each class tracker determines a replication ratio determining a fraction of gateways in its corresponding class of gateways that store a copy of a content item and a forwarding rate determining a rate of content requests that are forwarded to the content server or other class trackers, based on requests for the content item entering its class and the congestion signals received from other class trackers; and
wherein each class tracker adapts the replication ratio and forwarding rate such that an aggregate traffic load of each class does not exceed a total upload capacity of each class and such that a traffic load imposed on each class by requests for a content item does not exceed an upload capacity of gateways storing the content item.
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Abstract
A content distribution network, including: a content server that stores a set of content items; a plurality of gateways for storing and serving content requests to a subset of the content items, the plurality of gateways being grouped into a plurality of classes of gateways; and a plurality of class trackers corresponding to the plurality of classes; wherein each class tracker manages a placement of content items and an assignment of content requests for its class of gateways; wherein the plurality of class trackers exchange congestion signals among themselves; wherein, for each content item, each class tracker determines a fraction of gateways in its class of gateways that store the content item and a rate of content requests that are forwarded to the content server or other class trackers, based on requests for the content item entering its class and the congestion signals received from other class trackers.
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Citations
14 Claims
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1. A content distribution network, comprising:
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a content server that stores a set of content items; a plurality of gateways for storing and serving content requests to a subset of the content items, the plurality of gateways being grouped into a plurality of classes of gateways; and a plurality of class trackers corresponding to the plurality of classes of gateways; wherein each class tracker manages a placement of content items and an assignment of content requests for its corresponding class of gateways; wherein the plurality of class trackers exchange congestion signals among themselves; wherein, for each content item, each class tracker determines a replication ratio determining a fraction of gateways in its corresponding class of gateways that store a copy of a content item and a forwarding rate determining a rate of content requests that are forwarded to the content server or other class trackers, based on requests for the content item entering its class and the congestion signals received from other class trackers; and wherein each class tracker adapts the replication ratio and forwarding rate such that an aggregate traffic load of each class does not exceed a total upload capacity of each class and such that a traffic load imposed on each class by requests for a content item does not exceed an upload capacity of gateways storing the content item. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5)
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6. A method of operating a content distribution network, the content distribution network comprising a content server that stores a set of content items, a plurality of gateways for storing and serving content requests to a subset of the content items, the plurality of gateways being grouped into a plurality of classes of gateways, and a plurality of class trackers corresponding to the plurality of classes of gateways, the method comprising:
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managing, by each class tracker, a placement of content items and an assignment of content requests for its corresponding class of gateways; exchanging congestion signals among the plurality of class trackers; and for each content item, determining, by each class tracker, a replication ratio determining a fraction of gateways in its corresponding class of gateways that store a copy of a content item and a forwarding rate determining a rate of content requests that are forwarded to the content server or other class trackers, based on requests for the content item entering its class and the congestion signals received from other class trackers; and adapting by each class tracker the replication ratio and forwarding rate such that an aggregate traffic load of each class does not exceed a total upload capacity of each class and such that a traffic load imposed on each class by requests for a content item does not exceed an upload capacity of gateways storing the content item. - View Dependent Claims (7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. Apparatus comprising one or more processors configured to manage a placement of content items and an assignment of content requests for a first subset of a plurality of gateway devices, wherein the one or more processors:
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receives a congestion signal; determines a replication ratio determining a fraction of gateway devices in the first subset of gateway devices that store a copy of a content item and a forwarding rate determining a rate of content requests that are forwarded to a content server or to a second subset of the plurality of gateway devices, based on requests for the content item entering the class and the received congestion signal; and adapting the replication ratio and forwarding rate such that an aggregate traffic load of the first subset of the plurality of gateway devices does not exceed a total upload capacity of the first subset and such that a traffic load imposed on the first subset by requests for a content item does not exceed an upload capacity of gateway devices in the first subset storing the content item. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14)
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Specification