Content network global replacement policy
View Patent ↗This invention is related to content delivery systems and methods. In one aspect of the invention, a content provider controls a replacement process operating at an edge server. The edge server services content providers and has a data store for storing content associated with respective ones of the content providers. A content provider sets a replacement policy at the edge server that controls the movement of content associated with the content provider, into and out of the data store. In another aspect of the invention, a content delivery system includes a content server storing content files, an edge server having cache memory for storing content files, and a replacement policy module for managing content stored within the cache memory. The replacement policy module can store portions of the content files at the content server within the cache memory, as a function of a replacement policy set by a content owner.
1. A method for controlling content replacement within a content delivery system, the method comprising:
setting a content provider specified replacement policy for an edge server of the content delivery system, wherein the replacement policy specifies at least an initial portion of content from the content provider to preload, wherein according to the replacement policy, the edge server preloads only the initial portion of the content to said edge server prior to said content being requested, the initial portion of the content being less than an entirety of the content; and
caching content of the content provider at the edge server according to the replacement policy.
2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising providing a user interface configured for accepting from said content provider parameters of the replacement policy.
3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the replacement policy is a first replacement policy that applies to a first set of content of the content provider and wherein the user interface is configured for accepting from said content provider parameters of a second replacement policy for the edge server to apply to a second set of content of the content provider.
4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the replacement policy further specifies the initial portion of the content as a percentage of the content to preload at said edge server, and wherein caching content according to the replacement policy comprises preloading only the percentage of the content at the edge server prior to the content being requested.
5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the content is a particular piece of media content comprising a set of media files and wherein caching content of the content provider comprises preloading at least a first media file of the set of media files at the edge server prior to the particular piece of media content being requested and retrieving at least a second media file of the set of media files from the content provider when the particular piece of media content is requested.
6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the particular piece of media content is a video.
7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the content is a particular piece of media content comprising a set of media files and wherein caching content of the content provider comprises caching a subset of the set of media files corresponding to the particular piece of media content at the edge server prior to the particular piece of media content being requested.
8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the content comprises a particular web page, and the initial portion of the content comprises a set of embedded objects for the particular web page.
9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the replacement policy further specifies particular content of the content provider to remove from said edge server, the particular content to remove comprising a set of media files that is associated with a particular piece of media content, wherein the replacement policy further specifies a percentage to remove from the end of the particular content, and wherein caching content according to the replacement policy further comprises removing the percentage from the end of the particular piece of media content by removing at least one media file of the set of media files.
10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the replacement policy further specifies a memory allocation quota that is associated with the content provider, and wherein caching content according to the replacement policy further comprises initiating removal from the edge server of a portion of a particular piece of media content other than the initial portion of the content in response to the memory allocation quota being exceeded.
11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the replacement policy further specifies (i) a percentage of the content and (ii) a memory allocation quota that is associated with the content provider.
12. The method of claim 11 , wherein caching content according to the replacement policy further comprises removing said percentage of the content from the edge server in response to the memory allocation quota associated with the content provider being exceeded.
13. The method of claim 1 , wherein the replacement policy further specifies a portion of the content to remove from the edge server, and wherein caching content according to the replacement policy comprises removing the portion of the content from the edge server.
14. The method of claim 1 , wherein the initial content from the content provider is specified in a base HTML page, wherein the base HTML page redirects to the content delivery system a request for content to which the base HTML page points.
15. The method of claim 2 , wherein the user interface is further configured to allow the content provider to view content currently cached at the edge server.
16. The method of claim 2 , wherein the user interface is further configured to allow the content provider to lock content in the edge server for preventing the content from being removed.
17. A content delivery system comprising:
a first edge server having memory and configured for caching content of a particular content provider in the memory according to a first replacement policy;
a second edge server having memory and configured for caching content of the particular content provider in the memory according to a second replacement policy; and
a user interface configured for accepting from the particular content provider parameters of the first replacement policy for the first edge server and parameters of the second replacement policy for the second edge server, wherein the first replacement policy is different than the second replacement policy.
18. The content delivery system of claim 17 , wherein the first replacement policy specifies content to preload to the memory of the first edge server.
19. The content delivery system of claim 17 , wherein the first replacement policy specifies content to remove from the memory of the first edge server.
20. The content delivery system of claim 19 , wherein the first replacement policy further specifies content to remove from the memory of the first edge server when usage at the first edge server exceeds an amount of memory that is allocated for use by the particular content provider.
21. The content delivery system of claim 17 , wherein the user interface is further configured for accepting from the particular content provider parameters of a third replacement policy for the first edge server, wherein the first replacement policy applies to a first set of content of the particular content provider and the third replacement policy applies to a second set of content of the particular content provider.
22. The content delivery system of claim 17 ,
wherein the first replacement policy further specifies a first set of content to preload to the memory of the first edge server, and the second replacement policy further specifies a second set of content to remove from the memory of the second edge server, and
wherein caching content according to the first replacement policy further comprises preloading the first set of content to the memory of the first edge server, and caching content according to the second replacement policy further comprises removing the second set of content from the memory of the second edge server.
23. The content delivery system of claim 17 ,
wherein the first replacement policy further specifies a first percentage of the first set of content to preload to the memory of the first edge server, and the second replacement policy further specifies a second percentage of the second set of content to remove from the memory of the second edge server, wherein the first percentage is different than the second percentage, and
wherein caching content according to the first replacement policy further comprises preloading the first percentage of the first set of content to the memory of the first edge server, and caching content according to the second replacement policy further comprises removing the second percentage of the second set of content from the memory of the second edge server.
24. The content delivery system of claim 17 , wherein the user interface is further configured to allow the content provider to view content currently cached at the edge server.
25. The content delivery system of claim 17 , wherein the user interface is further configured to allow the content provider to lock content in the edge server for preventing the content from being removed.
26. The content delivery system of claim 18 , wherein the first replacement policy specifies an initial portion of the content to preload, wherein the initial portion of the content is less than the entirety of the content, and caching content according to the first replacement policy comprises caching only the initial portion of the content to the memory of the first edge server prior to the content being requested.
27. A computer readable storage medium storing a computer program for controlling content replacement within a content delivery system, the computer program for execution by at least one processor, the computer program comprising:
a set of instructions for setting a content provider specified replacement policy for an edge server of the content delivery system, wherein the replacement policy specifies at least an initial portion of content from the content provider to preload, wherein according to the replacement policy, the edge server preloads only the initial portion of the content to said edge server prior to said content being requested, the initial portion of the content being less than an entirety of the content; and
a set of instructions for caching content of the content provider at the edge server according to the replacement policy.