System and method to implement joint server selection and path selection

A network component comprising:

• a receiver in a content router or switch configured to receive a user request for content;
• a content routing engine coupled to the receiver and configured to implement a joint server selection (SS) and path selection (PS) algorithm, wherein implementing joint SS and PS algorithm comprises:
• checking that a demand feasibility condition is satisfied, wherein the availability is relaxed if the demand feasibility condition is not satisfied;
• calculating an initial feasible flow capacity from one or more available content servers to the content router;
• selecting at least one of a plurality of content servers that each comprise the content;
• dividing the initial feasible flow capacity among a plurality of paths;
• and
• selecting at least one of the plurality of paths from the selected server that achieve load balancing for transporting the content;
• and
• a transmitter coupled to the content routing engine and configured to indicate the selected content servers and paths to a provider network.

A network apparatus implemented method comprising:

• receiving a user request for content at a user request handler node;
• resolving a content name;
• selecting a plurality of content servers that comprise the content;
• and
• implementing joint server selection (SS) and path selection (PS),
• wherein at least some of the content is provided and load balanced on the paths, and
• wherein implementing joint SS and PS comprises:
• selecting a plurality of content servers comprising the user-requested content;
• identifying a plurality of available content servers from the plurality of content servers, wherein availability is determined based on a predefined processing limit, and wherein the plurality of available content servers comprises a second node;
• identifying a plurality of paths to transport data from the available content servers;
• checking a demand feasibility condition, wherein user demand is relaxed if the demand feasibility condition is not satisfied;
• calculating an initial feasible flow capacity to the content router from one or more available content servers;
• dividing the initial feasible flow capacity among the plurality of paths;
• and
• selecting at least one server and at least one path for obtaining the user-requested content.