Patent ID: 8219706

Claim:
A method comprising: obtaining network distance information and policy information for first and second autonomous systems, the network distance information including a compilation of network distance information provided by a plurality of service providers and the policy information indicating preferred routes between the autonomous systems; storing the network distance information and the policy information for the first and second autonomous systems in a network distance table; receiving a request from a client for an identity of a peer providing content; identifying a first peer in the first autonomous system and a second peer in the second autonomous system, the first and second peers providing the content; determining that a first network distance between the first peer and the client and a second network distance between the second peer and the client are not included in the network distance table, the policy information including a scaling factor for combining the compilation of network distance information provided by the service providers; determining that the first peer and the second peer are distant potential peers based on the first network distance and the second network distance not being included in the network distance table, wherein the distant potential peers have a network distance above a threshold; utilizing the distant potential peers only when no non-distant potential peers are identified; and providing the identity of the first peer to the client.