Patent ID: 8422376

Claim:
A delivery network for assisting delivery of content objects over an Internet, the delivery network comprising: a network outlet, wherein: the network outlet is coupled to a plurality of full-route networks comprising at least a first full-route network and a second full-route network, each of the plurality of full-route networks is capable of delivering content objects to a plurality of terminal networks, the plurality of terminal networks comprise a terminal network, and the plurality of terminal networks are coupled to a plurality of end user computers; the network outlet comprises: an interface that receives content object requests for delivery of content objects to the plurality of end user computers; and a routing function that distributes the content object requests in at least two modes, wherein: a first mode distributes the content object requests such that the requested content objects are routed to the terminal network based upon a first route path, the first route path is chosen based upon at least one of delivery cost or delivery efficiency, a second mode distributes the content object requests such that a portion of the requested content objects are routed to the terminal network using a second route path, both the first route path and the second route path are used simultaneously in the second mode, switching from the first mode to the second mode is triggered when: at least of a portion of the first route path reaches a predetermined level of use, wherein the predetermined level of use is below saturation, or a quality of service (QoS) measure of the first route path degrades to a threshold level, the first route path comprises the first full-route network and the second route path comprises the second full-route network, and the first and second full-route networks are different, and the second route path is less efficient and/or more costly than the first route path.