US 6,996,616 B1Granted

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

AssigneeAkamai Technologies, Inc.

InventorF. Thomson Leighton

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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.

Claims6

Dependent claims

A method operative in a content delivery network (CDN) wherein participating content providers identify content to be served from a set of CDN content servers in response to requests that are resolved through a request routing mechanism, comprising:

associating a content provider domain with a domain of an origin server at which the content provider hosts a default markup language file;
associating, during resolution, the content provider domain with a CDNSP-specific domain;
responsive to an end-user request directed to the content provider domain, using the CDNSP-specific domain to cue the request routing mechanism to identify a CDN content server;
determining whether a given version of the default markup language file exists on the identified CDN content server;
and
if the given version of the default markup language file exists on the identified CDN content server, serving the default markup language file to the requesting end user;
and
if the given version of the default markup language file does not exist on the identified CDN content server, directing a request for the default markup language file to the origin server, receiving the requested default markup language file at the identified CDN content server, building an index for the default markup language file that includes information about the origin server, caching the requested default markup language file at the identified CDN content server for selectively serving the default markup language file to the requesting end-user using the index, and logging data about the requested default markup language file served to the requesting end-user.

5 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application: 09/836,735Filed 17 Apr 2001 · us provisional application
Priority: 17 Apr 2000
Granted: 7 Feb 2006
Term ends: Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification10 codes

H04L 43/04
Arrangements for monitoring or testing data switching networks: processing captured monitoring data, e.g. for logfile generation
H04L 61/00
Network arrangements, protocols or services for addressing or naming
H04L 61/45
Network arrangements, protocols or services for addressing or naming: network directories; Name-to-address mapping
H04L 67/02
Protocols: based on web technology, e.g. hypertext transfer protocol [HTTP]