Method for high-performance delivery of web content

• US 20050044270A1
• Filed: 09/14/2004
• Published: 02/24/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 02/07/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Akamai Technologies, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Akamai Technologies, Inc.
• Inventors: Tumarkin, Alexei, Kharitonov, Michael, Grove, Adam J.
• Granted Patent: US 7,359,985 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/238
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/00 Network arrangements, protocols or services for addressing or naming
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/10 of different types
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/4511 using domain name system [DNS]
• 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 67/2876 Pairs of inter-processing entities at each side of the network, e.g. split proxies
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/563 Data redirection of data network streams
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/565 Conversion or adaptation of application format or content adding application control or application functional data H04L67/561
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/568 Storing data temporarily at an intermediate stage, e.g. caching
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/08 Protocols for interworking; Protocol conversion
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/10 Streamlined, light-weight or high-speed protocols, e.g. express transfer protocol [XTP] or byte stream
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/22 Parsing or analysis of headers

Abstract

The present invention provides a method and apparatus for increasing the performance of world-wide-web traffic over the Internet. A distributed network of specialized nodes of two types is dispersed around the Internet. A web client'"'"'s requests are directed to a node of the first type chosen to be close to the client, and the client communicates with this node using a standard protocol such as HTTP. This first node receives the request, and communicates the request to a node of the second type chosen to be close to the request'"'"'s ultimate destination (e.g., a web server capable of generating a response to the request.) The first node communicates the request to the second node using a different, specialized, protocol that has been designed for improved performance and specifically to reduce traffic volume and to reduce latency. The second node receives communication from the first node using this specialized protocol, converts it back to a standard protocol such as HTTP, and forwards the request to the destination computer or server. Responses from the destination to the client take the corresponding reverse route, and also are carried over a specialized protocol between the two nodes. In addition, these nodes can employ other techniques such as web caches that avoid or improve some communication steps. Thus, specialized, proprietary, or complex protocols and techniques can be quickly deployed to enhance web performance without requiring significant changes to the clients or servers.

Claims

1. A method for communicating an Internet message between a source and a destination over the Internet, comprising:

selecting a node of a first type;

selecting a node of a second type;

communicating an Internet message from the source to the selected node of a first type using a first communication protocol;

communicating the Internet message from the selected node of a first type to the selected node of a second type using a second communication protocol; and

communicating the Internet message from the selected node of a second type to the destination using a third communication protocol.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of selecting a node of a first type comprises:

determining a measure of communications performance for a sub-link between the source and a candidate node of a first type; and

selecting a node of a first type from among a plurality of candidate nodes of a first type to optimize the measure of communications performance for the sub-link between the source and the candidate node of a first type.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of selecting a node of a second type comprises:

determining a measure of communications performance for a sub-link between the destination and a candidate node of a second type; and

selecting a node of a second type from among the plurality of candidate nodes of a second type to optimize the measure of communications performance for the sub-link between the destination and the candidate node of a second type.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of selecting a node of a second type comprises:

determining a measure of communications performance for a sub-link between a candidate node of a first type and a candidate node of a second type; and

selecting a node of a second type from among the plurality of candidate nodes of a second type to optimize the measure of communications performance for the sub-link between the candidate node of a first type and the candidate node of a second type.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein

the step of selecting a node of a first type comprises:

determining a first measure of communications performance for a sub-link between the source and a candidate node of a first type; and

selecting a node of a first type from among the plurality of candidate nodes of a first type to optimize the first measure of communications performance; and

the step of selecting a node of a second type comprises;

determining a second measure of communications performance for a sub-link between a node of a first type and a candidate node of a second type, and a third measure of performance for a sub-link between the candidate node of a second type and the destination; and

selecting a node of a second type from among a plurality of candidate nodes of a second type to optimize a combination of the second and third measures of communications performance.

13. The method of claim 1 further comprising the steps of:

communicating a second Internet message from the destination to the node of a second type using a fourth communication protocol;

communicating the second Internet message from the node of a second type to the node of a first type using a fifth communication protocol; and

communicating the second Internet message from the node of a first type to the source using a sixth communication protocol.

17. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of communicating an Internet message from the source to the selected node of a first type comprises redirecting the Internet message from the source to the node of a first type.

20. The method of claim 1 wherein the first communication protocol is a standard communication protocol, the second communication protocol is a high-performance communication protocol, and the third communication protocol is a standard communication protocol.

23. The method of claim 13 wherein the fourth communication protocol is a standard communication protocol, the fifth communication protocol is a high-performance communication protocol, and the sixth communication protocol is a standard communication protocol.

27. The method of claim 20 wherein the Internet message is a World-Wide Web message.

30. The method of claim 23 wherein the Internet message is a World-Wide Web message.

2. A method for communicating an Internet message between a source and a destination over the Internet, comprising:

selecting a node of a first type;

communicating an Internet message from the source to the selected node of a first type using a first communication protocol;

communicating the Internet message from the selected node of a first type to a node of a second type using a second communication protocol; and

communicating the Internet message from the node of the second type to the destination using a third communication protocol.

4. The method of claim 2 wherein the step of selecting a node of a first type comprises:

determining a measure of communications performance for a sub-link between the source and a candidate node of a first type; and

selecting a node of a first type from among a plurality of candidate nodes of a first type to optimize the measure of communications performance for the sub-link between the source and the candidate node of a first type.

18. The method of claim 2 wherein the step of communicating an Internet message from the source to the selected node of a first type comprises redirecting the Internet message from the source to the node of a first type.

21. The method of claim 2 wherein the first communication protocol is a standard communication protocol, the second communication protocol is a high-performance communication protocol, and the third communication protocol is a standard communication protocol.

28. The method of claim 21 wherein the Internet message is a World-Wide Web message.

7. (canceled)

9. (canceled)

10. (canceled)

11. (canceled)

12. (canceled)

14. (canceled)

15. (canceled)

16. (canceled)

19. (canceled)

22. (canceled)

24. (canceled)

25. (canceled)

26. (canceled)

29. (canceled)

31. (canceled)

32. (canceled)

33. (canceled)

34. A method for providing web content to a source from a destination, comprising:

selecting a node;

communicating an Internet message requesting web content from a source to the node;

if the node includes the requested web content in its cache, communicating the web content from the node to the source; and

if the node does not include the requested web content in its cache, communicating the Internet message requesting web content from the node to the destination;

wherein the node is selected so as to optimize a measure of communications performance, the measure of communications performance including at least a metric for communications performance for a sub-link between the node and the destination.

35. The method of claim 34, wherein the measure of communication performance is a combination of the network distance between the source and the node, the network distance between the node and the destination, and the probability that the requested web content is in the cache of the node.

36. A system for communicating an Internet message from a source to a destination over the Internet, comprising:

a plurality of nodes including one or more nodes of a first type and one or more nodes of a second type;

a first selector to identify a node of a first type from the one or more nodes of a first type and communicate the selection to the source; and

a second selector to identify a node of a second type from the one or more nodes of a second type and communicate the selection to a selected node of a first type;

wherein each node of a first type comprises;

a receiver to receive the Internet message from the source using a first communication protocol;

a transmitter to communicate the Internet message to a selected node of a second type using a second communication protocol; and

each node of a second type comprises;

a receiver to receive the Internet message from a selected node of a first type; and

a transmitter to communicate the Internet message to the destination using a third communication protocol.

38. The system of claim 36 wherein:

the first selector identifies a node of a first type that optimizes a first measure of communications performance for a sub-link between the source and each of a plurality of candidate nodes of a first type.

40. The system of claim 36 wherein:

the second selector identifies a node of a second type that optimizes a measure of communications performance for a sub-link between a selected node of a second type and the destination.

41. The system of claim 36 wherein:

the first selector identifies a node of a first type that optimizes a measure of communications performance for at least a sub-link in a link from the source to the destination via the node of a first type and the node of a second type; and

the second selector identifies a node of a second type that optimizes a measure of communications performance for at least a sub-link in a link from the source to the destination via the node of a first type and the node of a second type.

45. The system of claim 36 wherein:

each node of a second type further comprises a receiver to receive a second Internet message from the destination using a fourth communication protocol, and a transmitter to communicate the second Internet message to a selected node of a first type using a fifth communication protocol; and

each node of a first type further comprises a receiver to receive the second Internet message from a selected node of a second type using the fifth communication protocol, and a transmitter to communicate the second Internet message to the source using a sixth communication protocol.

50. The system of claim 36 wherein the first communication protocol is a standard communication protocol, the second communication protocol is a high-performance communication protocol, and the third communication protocol is a standard communication protocol.

53. The system of claim 45 wherein the fourth communication protocol is a standard communication protocol, the fifth communication protocol is a high-performance communication protocol, and the sixth communication protocol is a standard communication protocol.

55. The system of claim 45 wherein the first communication protocol is a standard communication protocol, the second communication protocol is a high-performance communication protocol, and the third communication protocol is a standard communication protocol.

57. The system of claim 50 wherein the Internet message is a World-Wide Web message.

60. The system of claim 53 wherein the Internet message is a World-Wide Web message.

62. The system of claim 55 wherein the Internet message is a World-Wide Web message.

37. A system for communicating an Internet message from a source to a destination over the Internet, comprising:

a plurality of nodes including one or more nodes of a first type and one or more nodes of a second type; and

a selector to identify a node of a first type from the one or more nodes of a first type and communicate the selection to the source;

wherein each node of a first type comprises;

a receiver to receive the Internet message from the source using a first communication protocol; and

a transmitter to communicate the Internet message to a node of a second type using a second communication protocol; and

each node of a second type comprises;

a receiver to receive the Internet message from a selected node of a first type; and

a transmitter to communicate the Internet message to the destination using a third communication protocol.

39. The system of claim 37 wherein:

the selector identifies a node of a first type that optimizes a first measure of communications performance for a sub-link between the source and each of a plurality of candidate nodes of a first type.

51. The system of claim 37 wherein the first communication protocol is a standard communication protocol, the second communication protocol is a high-performance communication protocol, and the third communication protocol is a standard communication protocol.

58. The system of claim 51 wherein the Internet message is a World-Wide Web message.

42. A system for communicating an Internet message from a source to a destination over the Internet, comprising:

a plurality of nodes including one or more nodes of a first type and one or more nodes of a second type; and

a selector to identify a node of a first type from the one or more nodes of a first type and communicate the selection to the source, and to identify a node of a second type from the one or more nodes of a second type and provide the selection to a selected node of a first type;

wherein each node of a first type comprises;

a receiver to receive the Internet message from the source using a first communication protocol; and

a transmitter to communicate the Internet message to a node of a second type using a second communication protocol; and

each node of a second type comprises;

a receiver to receive the Internet message from a selected node of a first type; and

a transmitter to communicate the Internet message to the destination using a third communication protocol.

43. The system of claim 42 wherein the selector identifies a node of a first type and a node of a second type that optimize a measure of communications performance for a sub-link between the source and the node of a first type, a sub-link between the node of a first type and the node of a second type, and a sub-link between the node of a second type and the destination.

44. The system of claim 42 wherein the selector identifies a node of a first type and a node of a second type that optimize a measure of communications performance for at least a sub-link in a link between the source and the destination.

46. The system of claim 42 wherein:

each node of a second type further comprises a receiver to receive a second Internet message from the destination using a fourth communication protocol, and a transmitter to communicate the second Internet message to a selected node of a first type using a fifth communication protocol; and

each node of the first type further comprises a receiver to receive the second Internet message from a selected node of a second type using the fifth communication protocol, and a transmitter to communicate the second Internet message to the source using a sixth communication protocol.

52. The system of claim 42 wherein the first communication protocol is a standard communication protocol, the second communication protocol is a high-performance communication protocol, and the third communication protocol is a standard communication protocol.

54. The system of claim 46 wherein the fourth communication protocol is a standard communication protocol, the fifth communication protocol is a high-performance communication protocol, and the sixth communication protocol is a standard communication protocol.

56. The system of claim 46 wherein the first communication protocol is a standard communication protocol, the second communication protocol is a high-performance communication protocol, and the third communication protocol is a standard communication protocol.

59. The system of claim 52 wherein the Internet message is a World-Wide Web message.

61. The system of claim 54 wherein the Internet message is a World-Wide Web message.

63. The system of claim 56 wherein the Internet message is a World-Wide Web message.

47. A system for communicating an Internet message from a source to a destination over the Internet, comprising:

a plurality of nodes including one or more nodes of a first type and one or more nodes of a second type; and

a selector to identify a node of a second type from the one or more nodes of a second type and provide the selection to a node of a first type;

wherein each node of a first type comprises;

an interceptor to intercept the Internet message from the source using a first communication protocol; and

a transmitter to communicate the Internet message to a selected node of a second type using a second communication protocol; and

each node of a second type comprises;

a receiver to receive the Internet message from a selected node of a first type; and

a transmitter to communicate the Internet message to the destination using a third communication protocol.

48. A system for communicating an Internet message from a source to a destination over the Internet, comprising:

a plurality of nodes including one or more nodes of a first type and one or more nodes of a second type; and

a first selector to identify a node of a first type from the one or more nodes of a first type and communicate the selection to a redirector;

a second selector to identify a node of a second type from the one or more nodes of a second type and provide the selection to a selected node of a first type;

the redirector to redirect the Internet message from the source to the selected node of a first type;

wherein each node of a first type comprises;

a receiver to receive the Internet message from the redirector using a first communication protocol; and

a transmitter to communicate the Internet message to a selected node of a second type using a second communication protocol; and

each node of a second type comprises;

a receiver to receive the Internet message from a selected node of a first type; and

a transmitter to communicate the Internet message to the destination using a third communication protocol.

49. A system for communicating an Internet message from a source to a destination over the Internet, comprising:

a plurality of nodes including one or more nodes of a first type and one or more nodes of a second type; and

a selector to identify a node of a first type from the one or more nodes of a first type and communicate the selection to a redirector;

the redirector to redirect the Internet message from the source to the selected node of a first type;

wherein each node of a first type comprises;

a receiver to receive the Internet message from the redirector using a first communication protocol; and

a transmitter to communicate the Internet message to a selected node of a second type using a second communication protocol; and

each node of a second type comprises;

a receiver to receive the Internet message from a selected node of a first type; and

a transmitter to communicate the Internet message to the destination using a third communication protocol.

64. A system for providing web content to a source from a destination, comprising:

a plurality of nodes; and

a selector to identify a node from the one or more nodes and communicate the selection to the source;

wherein each node comprises;

a receiver to receive an Internet message comprising a request for web content from the source using a first communication protocol;

a cache;

a first transmitter to communicate the Internet message to a selected node of a second type using a second communication protocol; and

a second transmitter to communicate web content from the cache to the source;

wherein the selector selects the node to optimize a measure of communications performance, the measure of communications performance including at least a metric for a sub-link between the node and the destination.

65. The system of claim 64, wherein the measure of communications performance is a combination of the network distance between the source and the node, the network distance between the node and the destination, and the probability that the requested web content is in the cache of the node.

66. (canceled)

67. A method for communicating Internet messages between a source and a destination comprising:

selecting a node of a first type from one or more nodes of a first type, wherein the selected node of a first type is close to the source;

establishing a communication link between the source and the selected node of a first type for communicating Internet messages using a first communication protocol;

establishing a communication link between the selected node of a first type and a node of a second type for communicating Internet messages using a second communication protocol that is designed to be of higher performance than a prevailing standard communication protocol; and

establishing a communication link between the node of a second type and the destination for communicating Internet messages using a third communication protocol.

68. A method comprising:

selecting a node of a first type from one or more nodes of a first type to increase the performance of communicating the Internet message between the source and the destination;

selecting a node of a second type from one or more nodes of a second type to increase the performance of communicating the Internet message between the source and the destination;

communicating an Internet message from the source to the selected node of a first type using a first communication protocol;

communicating the Internet message from the selected node of a first type to the selected node of a second type using a second communication protocol that is designed to be a high-performance protocol; and

communicating the Internet message from the selected node of a second type to the destination using a third communication protocol.