Managing content delivery network service providers by a content broker

Abstract

A system, method, and computer readable medium for managing network storage provider and CDN service providers are provided. A content broker component obtains client computing device requests for content provided by a content provider. The content broker processes the client computing device requests and determines whether a subsequent request for the resource should be directed to a network storage provider or a CDN service provider as a function of the updated or processed by the content broker.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A system to manage content requests comprising:
 a data store operative to maintain request processing criteria corresponding to requested resources; and   a storage management component operative to:
 obtain information indicative of client computing device requests for a resource; 
 update the request processing criteria maintained in the data store corresponding to the requests for the resource; 
 identify a plurality of service providers for providing the resource to a client computing device, update the request processing criteria maintained in the data store corresponding to the requests for the resource; 
 associate a financial cost with each of the plurality of service providers, wherein the financial cost corresponds to a financial cost for processing the resource by each of the plurality of service providers respectively; 
 select at least one service provider from the plurality of service providers based at least in part on the associated financial cost; and 
 generate a recommendation regarding the selected at least one service provider. 
   
     
     
         2 . The system as recited in  claim 1 , wherein the client computing device requests for the resource correspond to domain name system (DNS) queries corresponding to an embedded resource. 
     
     
         3 . The system as recited in  claim 2 , wherein a uniform resource locator (URL) corresponding to a first DNS query of the DNS queries includes at least one field identifying the requested resource that can be identified during the processing of the first DNS query. 
     
     
         4 . The system as recited in  claim 1 , wherein the request processing criteria include at least one of a total number of requests obtained from client computing devices for the resource over a defined period of time, trends regarding an increase in requests from client computing devices for the resource, trends regarding a decrease in requests from client computing devices for the resource, and a current financial cost associated with the delivery of the resource by a storage component. 
     
     
         5 . The system as recited in  claim 1 , wherein the storage management component is further operative to cause the registration of a selected storage provider such that the selected service provider will begin providing the requested resource. 
     
     
         6 . The system as recited in  claim 5 , wherein the registration of the selected service provider is completed automatically without requiring additional interaction from a content provider. 
     
     
         7 . The system as recited in  claim 1 , wherein the storage management component is further operative to:
 obtain information indicative of subsequent client computing device requests for the resource;   update the request processing criteria maintained in the data corresponding to the subsequent request for the resource;   select a second service provider based at least on a financial cost for processing the requested resource; and   generate an alternative recommendation regarding the selected second service provider.   
     
     
         8 . A computer-implemented method comprising:
 as implemented by one or more computing devices configured with specific executable instructions,
 obtaining information indicative of client computing device requests for a resource; 
 updating request processing criteria maintained in a data store corresponding to the requests for the resource; 
 identifying a plurality of service providers for providing the resource to a client computing device, update the request processing criteria maintained in the data store corresponding to the requests for the resource; 
 associating a financial cost with each of the plurality of service providers, wherein the financial cost corresponds to a financial cost for processing the resource by each of the plurality of service providers respectively; 
 selecting at least one service provider from the plurality of service providers based at least in part on the associated financial cost; and 
 generating a recommendation regarding the selected at least one service provider. 
   
     
     
         9 . The computer-implemented method as recited in  claim 8 , wherein the client computing device requests for the resource correspond to domain name system (DNS) queries corresponding to an embedded resource. 
     
     
         10 . The computer-implemented method as recited in  claim 9 , wherein a uniform resource locator (URL) corresponding to a first DNS query of the DNS queries includes at least one field identifying the requested resource that can be identified during the processing of the first DNS query. 
     
     
         11 . The computer-implemented method as recited in  claim 8 , wherein the request processing criteria comprises a total number of requests obtained from client computing devices for the resource over a defined period of time. 
     
     
         12 . The computer-implemented method as recited in  claim 8 , wherein the request processing criteria comprises trends regarding an increase in requests from client computing devices for the resource 
     
     
         13 . The computer-implemented method as recited in  claim 8 , wherein the request processing criteria comprises trends regarding a decrease in requests from client computing devices for the resource. 
     
     
         14 . The computer-implemented method as recited in  claim 8 , wherein the request processing criteria comprises a current financial cost associated with the delivery of the resource by a storage component. 
     
     
         15 . The computer-implemented method as recited in  claim 8  further comprising causing the registration of a selected storage provider such that the selected service provider will begin providing the requested resource. 
     
     
         16 . The computer-implemented method as recited in  claim 15 , wherein the registration of the selected service provider is completed automatically without requiring additional interaction from a content provider. 
     
     
         17 . A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing computer-executable instructions that when executed by a processor perform operations comprising:
 obtaining, by a storage management component, information indicative of client computing device requests for a resource;   updating, by a storage management component, request processing criteria maintained in a data store corresponding to the requests for the resource;   identifying, by a storage management component, a plurality of service providers for providing the resource to a client computing device, update the request processing criteria maintained in the data store corresponding to the requests for the resource;   associating, by a storage management component, a financial cost with each of the plurality of service providers, wherein the financial cost corresponds to a financial cost for processing the resource by each of the plurality of service providers respectively;   selecting, by a storage management component, at least one service provider from the plurality of service providers based at least in part on the associated financial cost; and   generating, by a storage management component, a recommendation regarding the selected at least one service provider.   
     
     
         18 . The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium as recited in  claim 17 , wherein the stored computer-executable instructions when executed by a processor perform operations further comprising:
 obtaining information indicative of subsequent client computing device requests for the resource; and   updating the request processing criteria maintained in the data corresponding to the subsequent request for the resource.   
     
     
         19 . The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium as recited in  claim 18 , wherein the stored computer-executable instructions when executed by a processor perform operations further comprising:
 selecting a second service provider based at least on a financial cost for processing the requested resource; and   generating an alternative recommendation regarding the selected second service provider.   
     
     
         20 . The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium as recited in  claim 17 , wherein the stored computer-executable instructions when executed by a processor perform operations further comprising automatically registering the selected service provider without requiring additional interaction from a content provider.