Patent ID: 8194538

Claim:
A method operative in a content delivery network having a set of server nodes organized into regions, wherein the server nodes provide delivery of content on behalf of participating content providers, wherein a server node comprises a cluster of content delivery network edge servers, the method comprising: for each given server node and a content provider origin server, identifying at least one alternate path to be used for edge server-to-content provider origin server communications, the at least one alternate path including at least one other content delivery network edge server that is external to the given server node; upon receipt at a particular edge server in the given server node of a request for an object that is not available for delivery from the particular edge server, issuing a new request for the object from the particular edge server over the at least one alternate path, wherein the object has an associated cacheability setting, wherein the cacheability setting indicates that the object should not be cached in the particular edge server; receiving the object over the at least one alternate path; and serving the object in response to the request.