A method of operating a control node in a content delivery network , the method comprising: receiving content requests issued by end user devices for content cached by a plurality of content nodes of the content delivery network; for at least a first content request, mapping a first connection between a first end user device and a first content node, the first connection defined by at least a network address of the first end user device and a virtual next hop network address; the method characterised by : directing traffic associated with the first connection to the first content node using at least the virtual next hop network address and a first version of a second link layer address, wherein the first version of the second link layer address indicates that the first content node is an original content node for the first content request; identifying a service interruption associated with the first content node; and responsive to the service interruption, identifying a second content node to handle the first connection and directing the traffic associated with the first connection to the second content node using at least the virtual next hop network address and a modified version of the second link layer address, wherein the modified version of the second link layer address indicates that the second content node is used as a drain for the first content node. receiving content requests issued by end user devices for content cached by a plurality of content nodes of the content delivery network; for at least a first content request, mapping a first connection between a first end user device and a first content node, the first connection defined by at least a network address of the first end user device and a virtual next hop network address; the method characterised by : directing traffic associated with the first connection to the first content node using at least the virtual next hop network address and a first version of a second link layer address, wherein the first version of the second link layer address indicates that the first content node is an original content node for the first content request; identifying a service interruption associated with the first content node; and responsive to the service interruption, identifying a second content node to handle the first connection and directing the traffic associated with the first connection to the second content node using at least the virtual next hop network address and a modified version of the second link layer address, wherein the modified version of the second link layer address indicates that the second content node is used as a drain for the first content node. directing traffic associated with the first connection to the first content node using at least the virtual next hop network address and a first version of a second link layer address, wherein the first version of the second link layer address indicates that the first content node is an original content node for the first content request; identifying a service interruption associated with the first content node; and responsive to the service interruption, identifying a second content node to handle the first connection and directing the traffic associated with the first connection to the second content node using at least the virtual next hop network address and a modified version of the second link layer address, wherein the modified version of the second link layer address indicates that the second content node is used as a drain for the first content node. <EOS>