Patent ID: 8291062

Claim:
A method of enabling a client to access content, the method comprising: receiving, on a client, an instruction from a client application indicating a client request to access content; accessing, by the client application and on the client, a list of content sources capable of rendering the content for which access is requested by the client; requesting, using the client application on the client, identical portions of the content from each of the content sources in the list of the content sources; measuring a first performance metric for a first content source of the content sources based on the identical portion received from the first content source; measuring a second performance metric for a second content source of the content sources based on the identical portion received from the second content source; comparing the first performance metric and the second performance metric; selecting, using the client application on the client, among the content sources based on the comparison to identify a content source to be accessed by the client; and rendering, using the client application on the client, the identical portion of the accessed content and a subsequent portion of content that follows the identical portion of the accessed content from the selected content source.