Handling long-tail content in a content delivery network (cdn)

A content delivery network comprising:

• a first tier of servers comprising a first plurality of servers, an edge server of the first tier of servers receiving a request from a requesting device in communication with the first server for a resource available from the content delivery network;
• a second tier of servers comprising a second plurality of servers, a first server of the second plurality of servers receiving a request from the edge server for the content and, in response, transmitting a redirect instruction intended for the requesting device to the edge server to obtain the resource from a content server;
• and
• a popularity service tracking a popularity designation associated with the requested resource;
• wherein the edge server processes the redirect instruction to obtain the content from the content server and provides the obtained content to the requesting device.

A method of content delivery in a content delivery network comprising:

• receiving, at a first server of a first tier of servers of the content delivery network, a request from a requesting device for a resource available from the content delivery network;
• accessing a popularity service associated with the first server of the first tier of the content delivery network to determine a popularity designation associated with the requested resource;
• receiving an instruction to not cache the resource at the first server of the first tier of servers;
• requesting the resource from a second server of the content delivery network based at least on the popularity designation associated with the requested resource;
• and
• providing the obtained resource to the requesting device.