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AssigneeMassachusetts Institute of Technology
InventorsF. Thomson Leighton, Daniel M. Lewin
Estimating the term…
The present invention is a network architecture or framework that supports hosting and content distribution on a truly global scale. The inventive framework allows a Content Provider to replicate and serve its most popular content at an unlimited number of points throughout the world. The inventive framework comprises a set of servers operating in a distributed manner. The actual content to be served is preferably supported on a set of hosting servers (sometimes referred to as ghost servers). This content comprises HTML page objects that, conventionally, are served from a Content Provider site. In accordance with the invention, however, a base HTML document portion of a Web page is served from the Content Provider's site while one or more embedded objects for the page are served from the hosting servers, preferably, those hosting servers near the client machine. By serving the base HTML document from the Content Provider's site, the Content Provider maintains control over the content.
A method of content delivery wherein participating content providers identify content to be delivered by a service provider from a set of content servers associated with the service provider, wherein a given object of a participating content provider is associated with a Uniform Resource Locator (URL), comprising:
A system operative in a computer network in which users of client machines normally connect to content provider servers, comprising:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.
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From the US filing history. Foreign family members aren’t listed.
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Retrieval from the web: browsing optimisation, e.g. caching or content distillation
Retrieval from the web: organisation or management of web site content, e.g. publishing, maintaining pages or automatic linking
Translation of Internet protocol [IP] addresses: between local and global IP addresses
Network arrangements, protocols or services for addressing or naming: managing network names, e.g. use of aliases or nicknames
Term end not estimated
1. Technical Field
This invention relates generally to information retrieval in a computer network. More particularly, the invention relates to a novel method of hosting and distributing content on the Internet that addresses the problems of Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and Internet Content Providers.
2. Description of the Related Art
For a more complete understanding of the present invention and the advantages thereof, reference should be made to the following Detailed Description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings in which:
FIG. 1 is a representative system in which the present invention is implemented;
FIG. 2 is a simplified representation of a markup language document illustrating the base document and a set of embedded objects;
A known Internet client-server system is implemented as illustrated in FIG. 1. A client machine 10 is connected to a Web server 12 via a network 14. For illustrative purposes, network 14 is the Internet, an intranet, an extranet or any other known network. Web server 12 is one of a plurality of servers which are accessible by clients, one of which is illustrated by machine 10. A representative client machine includes a browser 16, which is a known software tool used to access the servers of the network. The Web server supports files (collectively referred to as a “Web” site) in the form of hypertext documents and objects. In the Internet paradigm, a network path to a server is identified by a so-called Uniform Resource Locator (URL).
A representative Web server 12 is a computer comprising a processor 18, an operating system 20, and a Web server program 22, such as Netscape Enterprise Server. The server 12 also includes a display supporting a graphical user interface (GUI) for management and administration, and an Application Programming Interface (API) 26 that provides extensions to enable application developers to extend and/or customize the core functionality thereof through software programs including Common Gateway Interface (CGI) programs, plug-ins, servlets, active server pages, server side include (SSI) functions or the like.
A representative Web client is a personal computer that is x86-, PowerPC®- or RISC-based, that includes an operating system such as IBM® OS/2® or Microsoft Windows ′95, and that includes a Web browser, such as Netscape Navigator 4.0 (or higher), having a Java Virtual Machine (JVM) and support for application plug-ins or helper applications. A client may also be a notebook computer, a handheld computing device (e.g., a PDA), an Internet appliance, or any other such device connectable to the computer network.