Hybrid unicast/anycast content distribution network system

A computer-implemented method comprising:

• receiving, at a server, a request from a requestor for resolving a hostname to an edge cache address associated with the hostname;
• comparing an address of the requestor to an anycast group to determine if the requestor is a member of the anycast group, wherein when the anycast group is in a stable network that has an existing peering relationship regulating how traffic from the anycast group enters a content delivery provider controlled network, the existing peering relationship causes requests from the anycast group to enter the content delivery provider controlled network at a same router for an extended period of time, wherein the extended period of time is over multiple requests, wherein when the anycast group is in an unstable network, the traffic enters the content delivery provider controlled network at multiple provider edge routers instead of the same router;
• determining, by utilizing instructions from memory that are executed by a processor, an optimal cache server when the requestor is not the member of the anycast group;
• identifying a unicast address of the optimal cache server;
• and
• providing the unicast address of the optimal cache server to the requestor in response to the request.

A system comprising:

• a memory that stores instructions;
• a processor that executes the instructions to perform operations, the operations comprising:
• receiving a request from a requestor for resolving a hostname to an edge cache address associated with the hostname;
• comparing an address of the requestor to an anycast group to determine if the requestor is a member of the anycast group, wherein when the anycast group is in a stable network that has an existing peering relationship regulating how traffic enters a content delivery provider controlled network associated with the server, the existing peering relationship causes multiple requests from the anycast group to enter the content delivery provider controlled network at a same router for an extended period of time, wherein the extended period of time is over multiple requests, wherein when the anycast group is in an unstable network, the traffic enters the content delivery provider controlled network at multiple provider edge routers instead of the same router;
• identifying an anycast address of a cache server for the edge cache address when the requestor is the member of the anycast group;
• altering a route in the network from the router to the cache server having the anycast address for requests from the anycast group;
• and
• providing the anycast address and the route in the network to the requestor in response to the request.

A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising a plurality of instructions, which, when loaded and executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform operations comprising:

• receiving a request from a requestor for resolving a hostname to an edge cache address associated with the hostname;
• comparing an address of the requestor to an anycast group to determine if the requestor is a member of the anycast group, wherein when the anycast group has an existing peering relationship regulating how traffic enters a content delivery provider controlled network associated with the server, the existing peering relationship causes multiple requests from the anycast group to enter the content delivery provider controlled network at a same router for an extended period of time, wherein the extended period of time is over multiple requests, wherein when the anycast group is in an unstable network, the traffic enters the content delivery provider controlled network at multiple provider edge routers instead of the same router;
• identifying an anycast address of a cache server for the edge cache address when the requestor is the member of the anycast group;
• altering a route in the network from the router to the cache server having the anycast address for requests from the anycast group;
• and
• providing the anycast address and the route in the network to the requestor in response to the request.