Patent ID: 8291117

Claim:
A method for domain name service (DNS) that assists in resolving addresses used for delivering content from a content delivery network (CDN) to computing devices, the method comprising: receiving a DNS request at a server from a computing device, wherein: the DNS request includes a domain field and additional information, and the server is an authoritative DNS for the domain; analyzing the additional information to choose an Internet protocol (IP) address from a plurality of IP addresses for the CDN, wherein: the additional information indicates a content object, the IP address corresponds to a plurality of edge servers in two or more POPs, the IP address is chosen from a plurality of options based, at least in part, upon popularity of the content object associated with the DNS request, and the plurality of edge servers each are assignable to serve content associated with the DNS request; and sending the IP address from the server for the IP address to answer the DNS request, wherein a first subdomain field for a first DNS request for an instant content object has a first parameter, a second subdomain field for a second DNS request for the instant content object has a second parameter, and the first and second parameters are different.