Patent ID: 7984116

Claim:
A system for distribution of content segments of content units throughout a content delivery network, including end-user content-storing client peer nodes and end-user content-requesting client peer nodes interconnected by a wide area communications network, comprising: a) computer processing apparatus configured to analyze requests for content to identify a distribution pattern of content demand between the end-user content-storing client peer nodes and end-user content-requesting client peer nodes; b) computer processing apparatus configured to determine a redundant distribution of content segments of a content unit among the end-user content-storing client peer nodes corresponding to the distribution pattern of content demand, wherein the redundant distribution is determined subject to the storage and content transfer capabilities of end-user content-storing client peer nodes relative to end-user content-requesting client peer nodes; c) computer processing apparatus configured to direct a copying of content between end-user content-storing client peer nodes to establish a predetermined correspondence between the redundant distribution of content and the distribution pattern of content demand; and d) computer processing apparatus configured to enable, in response to a request for a content unit from a first end-user content-requesting client peer node, transfer of a first content segment of the requested content unit from a first end-user content-storing client peer node and a second content segment of the requested content unit from a second end-user content-storing client peer node.