Intermediate content processing for content delivery networks

A method of handling content requests received from edge servers by an intermediate server in a CDN and accessing and processing content distributed throughout the CDN, the method comprising:

• receiving a content request through a port from an edge server, wherein:
• the content request includes a Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) associated with requested content;
• and
• the edge server and the intermediate server are part of a first Point-of-Presence (POP) in the CDN;
• passing the URI to an operating system operating on the intermediate server;
• passing the URI from the operating system to a CDN content interface comprising a specialized virtual file server that provides virtualized access to content files in multiple POPs that are accessible throughout the CDN using URIs;
• receiving, by the CDN content interface:
• a first portion of content using the URI;
• wherein the first portion of content is stored in the first POP;
• and
• a second portion of content using the URI;
• wherein the second portion of content is accessible from a second POP;
• generating the requested content by combining at least the first portion of content and the second portion of content;
• passing the requested content from the specialized virtual file server through the operating system to the content processor, wherein the specialized virtual file server makes the requested content comprising the first portion of content and the second portion of content appear to be a single locally-stored file to the content processor;
• and
• performing a processing function on the requested content by the content processor to produce processed content for delivery to the edge server.

An intermediate server for handling content requests received from edge servers in a Content Delivery Network (CDN) and accessing and processing content distributed throughout the CDN, the intermediate server comprising:

• a port that receives a content request from an edge server, wherein:
• the content request includes a Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) associated with requested content;
• and
• the edge server and the intermediate server are part of a first Point-of-Presence (POP) in the CDN;
• a content processor communicatively coupled to the port and configured to perform a processing function on the requested content to produce processed content for delivery to the edge server, wherein the processing function comprises dividing the requested content into streaming data chunks;
• and
• a CDN content interface comprising a specialized virtual file server that provides virtualized access to content files in multiple POPs that are accessible throughout the CDN using URIs, wherein the CDN content interface is configured to:
• receive a first portion of content using the URI;
• wherein the first portion of content is accessible from a second POP;
• and
• provide the requested content to the content processor, wherein:
• the requested content comprises the first portion of the requested content;
• and
• the specialized virtual file server makes the requested content comprising the first portion of content appear to be a single locally-stored file to the content processor.