Patent ID: 8472324

Claim:
A system for managing routing decisions for a router comprising: an edge router in a first network, the edge router having communication links to multiple transit provider networks distinct from the first network; a route manager on the first network comprising one or more computing devices, the route manager distinct from the edge router, the route manager configured to: select a transit provider network from one of the multiple transit provider networks based at least partly on data supplemental to routing data received from the multiple transit provider networks, the supplemental data obtained from non-routing sources and different from the routing data, the supplemental data including at least monetary costs for sending network traffic on the transit providers networks, the routing data comprising reachable destinations through the multiple transit provider networks; identify a communications link exiting the first network to the selected transit provider network; and determine a transit route for a target destination located outside the first network, the transit route including the identified communications link; and a resource cache on the first network comprising one or more computing devices, the resource cache distinct from the edge router, the resource cache in communication with the route manager, the resource cache configured to: obtain the determined transit route for the target destination from the route manager; associate a content communication with the determined transit route for the target destination; and transmit the content communication to the edge router; wherein, in response to receiving the content communication, the edge router is configured to forward the content communication according to the determined transit route.