Akamai Technologies, Inc.

Andrew Thomas Davis

William Edward Weihl

Jay Parikh

Mark Tsimelzon

Daniel Stodolsky

Srinivasan Pichai

Daniel M Lewin

Marty Kagan

Samuel Dov Gendler

Srikanth Thirumalai

Nate Kushman

Ashis Tarafdar

Anne E Lewin, Legal Representative

Eddie Ruvinsky

Srinivasn Pichai

Content is dynamically assembled at the edge of the Internet, preferably on content delivery network (CDN) edge servers. A content provider leverages an 'edge side include' (ESI) markup language that is used to define Web page fragments for dynamic assembly at the edge. Dynamic assembly improves site performance by caching objects that comprise dynamically-generated pages at the edge of the Internet, close to the end user. Instead of being assembled by an application/web server in a centralized data center, the application/web server sends a page template and content fragments to a CDN edge server where the page is assembled. Each content fragment can have its own cacheability profile to manage the 'freshness' of the content. Once a user requests a page, the edge server examines its cache for the included fragments and assembles the page on-the-fly.

Dynamic content assembly on edge-of network servers in a content delivery network

Dynamic content assembly on edge-of-network servers in a content delivery network

Business applications running on a content delivery network (CDN) having a distributed application framework can create, access and modify state for each client. Over time, a single client may desire to access a given application on different CDN edge servers within the same region and even across different regions. Each time, the application may need to access the latest 'state' of the client even if the state was last modified by an application on a different server. A difficulty arises when a process or a machine that last modified the state dies or is temporarily or permanently unavailable. The present invention provides techniques for migrating session state data across CDN servers in a manner transparent to the user. A distributed application thus can access a latest 'state' of a client even if the state was last modified by an application instance executing on a different CDN server, including a nearby (in-region) or a remote (out-of-region) server.

Managing web tier session state objects in a content delivery network (CDN)

An application deployment model for enterprise applications to enable applications to be deployed to and executed from a globally distributed computing platform, such as an Internet content delivery network (CDN). According to the invention, application developers separate their Web application into two layers: a highly distributed edge layer and a centralized origin layer. In a representative embodiment, the edge layer supports a servlet container that executes a Web tier, typically the presentation layer of a given Java-based application. Where necessary, the edge layer communicates with code running on an origin server to respond to a given request. In an alternative embodiment, the edge layer supports a more fully-provisioned application server that executes both Web tier (e.g., presentation) and Enterprise tier application (e.g., business logic) components. In either case, the inventive framework enables one or more different applications to be deployed to and executed from the edge server on behalf of one or more respective entities.

Java application framework for use in a content delivery network (CDN)

A method and system of load balancing application server resources operating in a distributed set of servers is described. In a representative embodiment, the set of servers comprise a region of a content delivery network. Each server in the set typically includes a server manager process, and an application server on which edge-enabled applications or application components are executed. As service requests are directed to servers in the region, the application servers manage the requests in a load-balanced manner, and without any requirement that a particular application server spawned on-demand.

Method of load balancing edge-enabled applications in a content delivery network (CDN)

The disclosed technique enables a content provider to dynamically assemble content at the edge of the Internet, preferably on content delivery network (CDN) edge servers. Preferably, the content provider leverages an 'edge side include' (ESI) markup language that is used to define Web page fragments for dynamic assembly at the edge. Dynamic assembly improves site performance by catching the objects that comprise dynamically generated pages at the edge of the Internet, close to the end user. The content provider designs and develops the business logic to form and assemble the pages, for example, by using the ESI language within its development environment. Instead of being assembled by an application/web server in a centralized data center, the application/web server sends a page template and content fragments to a CDN edge server where the page is assembled. Each content fragment can have its own cacheability profile to manage the 'freshness' of the content. Once a user requests a page (template), the edge server examines its cache for the included fragments and assembles the page on-the-fly.

The present invention enables a content provider to dynamically assemble content at the edge of the Internet, preferably on content delivery network (CDN) edge servers. Preferably, the content provider leverages an 'edge side include' (ESI) markup language that is used to define Web page fragments for dynamic assembly at the edge. Dynamic assembly improves site performance by catching the objects that comprise dynamically generated pages at the edge of the Internet, close to the end user. The content provider designs and develops the business logic to form and assemble the pages, for example, by using the ESI language within its development environment. Instead of being assembled by an application/web server in a centralized data center, the application/web server sends a page template and content fragments to a CDN edge server where the page is assembled. Each content fragment can have its own cacheability profile to manage the 'freshness' of the content. Once a user requests a page (template), the edge server examines its cache for the included fragments and assembles the page on-the-fly.

A method and system of load balancing application server resources operating in a distributed set of servers is described. In a representative embodiment, the set of servers comprise a region of a content delivery network. Each server is the set typically includes a server manager process, and an application server on which edge-enabled applications or application components are executed. As service requests are directed to servers in the region, the application servers manage the requests in a load-balanced manner, and without any requirement that a particular application server be spawned on-demand.

An application deployment model for enterprise applications to enable such applications to be deployed to and executed from a globally distributed computing platform, such as an Internet content delivery network (CDN). According to the invention, application developers separate their Web application into two layers: a highly distributed edge layer and a centralized origin layer. In a representative embodiment, the edge layer supports a servlet container that executes a Web tier, typically the presentation layer of a given Java-based application. Where necessary, the edge layer communicates with code running on an origin server to respond to a given request. In an alternative embodiment, the edge layer supports a more fully-provisioned application server that executes both Web tier (e.g., presentation) and Enterprise tier application (e.g., business logic) components. In either case, the inventive framework enables one or more different applications to be deployed to and executed from the edge server on behalf of one or more respective entities.

Growing community of inventors

San Francisco, CA, United States of America

Andrew Thomas Davis