KR20110057854A - Apparatus for relaying contents, system and method for servicing combined cdn using the same - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: A content relay device and integration CDN service system using the same are provided to efficiently supply the content by inducing the client to a CDN supplier if a client requests content. CONSTITUTION: One or more CDN suppliers(130) store the content of one or more contents providers(120) in a plurality of edge nodes. One or more CDN suppliers supply the CDN service to one or more contents suppliers. A content relay(140) receives the content from the content supplier and transfers the content to the CDN supplier. The contents relay transfers the address of the CDN supplier offering the service to the client.

Description

Content relay device and integrated CD service system and method using same {APPARATUS FOR RELAYING CONTENTS, SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR SERVICING COMBINED CDN USING THE SAME}

Embodiments of the present invention relate to a technique for effectively distributing or transmitting content.

CDN (Content Delivery Network) is a new concept of content delivery technology that has emerged to overcome the limitations of the caching strategy and the problem of the middle mile (internet network) that causes congestion of network traffic.

The purpose of the CDN is to distribute multiple servers across the edge of the network to improve the quality of Internet services, and to replicate content to distributed servers so that duplicate servers (i.e., edge nodes) near the client respond to content requests. By doing so, it provides a quick service to the client.

CDN takes the caching technology to the next level. Caching is generally designed to be used on a local basis to store content that clients frequently request, whereas CDN manages replication servers distributed across the network and policy-selected content. Save it.

Specifically, the content providers conclude a service contract with the CDN service provider, and then deliver the contents to be serviced to the CDN service provider. Then, the CDN service provider keeps the delivered contents in edge nodes distributed throughout the network. Thereafter, when a user (client) requests predetermined content from the CDN service provider, the CDN service provider provides the content to the user through an edge node closest to the user.

However, the conventional CDN service system requires a huge investment cost initially because it requires the same number of edge nodes as the serviceable area. In order to expand or change the service area, an edge node needs to be added, which incurs additional costs. In addition, the conventional CDN service system has a problem that takes a lot of resources to manage the edge node.

In the embodiments of the present invention, the content relay device receives the content from the content provider between the one or more content providers and the one or more CDN providers, and transmits the received content to the CDN provider, thereby using the existing CDN service system. In this case, we intend to integrate and provide a plurality of CDN service areas to clients.

According to embodiments of the present invention, when a client requests a content, the content relay device guides the client to a CDN provider closest to the client among one or more CDN providers, thereby efficiently supplying the content.

Other technical problems by the embodiments of the present invention can be understood by the following description, which can be realized by the means and combinations thereof shown in the claims.

Integrated CDN service system according to an embodiment of the present invention, one or more content providers; One or more CDN providers storing contents of the one or more content providers in a plurality of edge nodes and providing CDN services to the one or more content providers; And receiving content from the one or more content providers and delivering the content to the one or more CDN providers, and when a client requests the IP address of the content provider, provide an optimal service to the client among the one or more CDN providers. And a content relay device that delivers the address of the CDN provider.

Integrated CDN service method according to an embodiment of the present invention, one or more content providers and one or more CDN providers to store the contents of the one or more content providers in a plurality of edge nodes, and provides a CDN service to the one or more content providers An integrated CDN service method comprising: (A) when a client requests an IP address of the content provider, a content relay device of the CDN provider capable of providing an optimal service to the client among the one or more CDN providers. Passing the address; (B) When a client requests an IP address of the content provider, a CDN provider capable of providing the optimal service delivers the IP address of an edge node closest to the client among the plurality of edge nodes. step; And (C) an edge node in a position closest to the client transmits predetermined content to the client.

An integrated CDN service method according to another embodiment of the present invention includes storing one or more content providers and contents of the one or more content providers in a plurality of edge nodes and providing one or more CDN services to the one or more content providers. An integrated CDN service method comprising: (A) transmitting, by a content provider, predetermined content to a content relay device; (B) storing and registering the content by the content relay device and transmitting the first URL of the content to the content provider; (C) the content relay device transmitting the content to the CDN provider; (D) the CDN provider storing and registering the content and transmitting a second URL of the content to the content relay device; And (E) mapping and storing, by the content relay device, a first URL and a second URL of the content.

Content relay device according to an embodiment of the present invention, when a request for the IP address of the content provider from the client, the delivery of the address of the CDN provider that can provide the optimal service to the client of one or more CDN providers A content router; A relay server receiving content from one or more content providers and delivering the content to the one or more CDN providers; And checking the location of the client to control the content router to deliver an address of a CDN provider that can provide an optimal service to the client, and to forward the provided content to the one or more CDN providers. It includes a control unit for controlling.

According to the embodiments of the present invention, since the CDN service of the existing CDN provider can be used without changing the system of the existing CDN provider through the content relay device, the initial cost of constructing the CDN service can be significantly reduced.

In addition, when the CDN service area is extended or changed, the CDN provider in charge of the service area may be connected with the content relay device, thereby making it easy to expand or change the CDN service area.

In addition, by inducing the client to receive the CDN service from the CDN provider that can provide the optimal service according to the geographic location of the client among the various CDN providers, it is possible to provide an efficient CDN service.

In addition, by integrating a plurality of CDN providers in charge of various areas through a content relay device, clients can receive integrated CDN services for a plurality of CDN service areas.

Hereinafter, a specific embodiment of a content relay device of the present invention and an integrated CDN service system and method using the same will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 4. However, this is only an exemplary embodiment and the present invention is not limited thereto.

In describing the present invention, when it is determined that the detailed description of the known technology related to the present invention may unnecessarily obscure the subject matter of the present invention, the detailed description thereof will be omitted. The following terms are defined in consideration of the functions of the present invention, and may be changed according to the intention or custom of the user, the operator, and the like. Therefore, the definition should be based on the contents throughout this specification.

In addition, embodiments of the present invention to be carried out below are provided in each system functional configuration to efficiently describe the technical components constituting the present invention, or the system functional configuration commonly provided in the technical field to which the present invention belongs. Omit possible, and focus on the functional configuration to be additionally provided for the present invention. If those skilled in the art to which the present invention pertains, it will be easy to understand the functions of the components that are used in the prior art among the omitted functional configuration not shown below, and also the configuration omitted as described above The relationship between the elements and the components added for the present invention will also be clearly understood.

In the following description, the terms "transfer", "communication", "transmit", "receive" and other similar meanings of signals or information are not only meant to directly convey the signal or information from one component to another. It also includes passing through other components. In particular, "transmitting" or "sending" a signal or information to a component indicates the final destination of the signal or information and does not mean a direct destination. The same is true for the "reception" of a signal or information.

As a result, the technical spirit of the present invention is determined by the claims, and the following examples are one means for efficiently explaining the technical spirit of the present invention to those skilled in the art to which the present invention pertains. It is only.

1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of an integrated CDN service system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1, the integrated CDN service system includes a client 110, one or more content providers 120, one or more CDN providers 130, and a content relay device 140.

The client 110 requests the content relay device 140 to obtain an IP address of a predetermined content provider 120, and the one or more CDN providers 130 in response to the request from the content relay device 140. Obtain the address (ie, domain name) of the best CDN provider 130.

Here, the optimal CDN provider 130 refers to a CDN provider that can provide predetermined content to the client 110 as soon as possible. For example, the CDN provider may be located at a location closest to the client 110. have.

In general, the client 110 requests the content provider's IP address through a local DNS server (not shown) configured in the client 110, and obtains the address of the CDN provider 130, but is described herein. For convenience, the description of the local DNS server (not shown) will be omitted.

The client 110 may be a digital processing device such as a personal computer (PC), a notebook computer, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a mobile phone, or the like.

The content provider 120 provides predetermined content to the client 110 through one or more CDN providers 130 associated with the content relay device 140.

In this case, the content provider 120 is not connected 1: 1 with the CDN provider 130, but is connected with 1: n. Accordingly, the content provider 120 may provide CDN services to clients in various regions due to one or more CDN providers 130 in charge of various service areas.

To this end, the content provider 120 delivers the contents to the one or more CDN providers 130 through the content relay device 140. A detailed description thereof will be given later.

Here, the 'content' refers to an Internet object downloaded through a web server or a media server in an internet environment. For example, the 'content' includes a web page, a web document, a program, a compressed file, an image, a video, and a music. And so on.

The CDN provider 130 receives the contents from the one or more content providers 120 through the content relay device 140 and stores the contents in edge nodes (not shown) distributed in various places.

When the client 110 connects, the CDN provider 130 induces the client 110 to receive content from an edge node (not shown) located closest to the client 110.

When the client 110 requests the IP address of the content provider 120, the content relay device 140 replaces the IP address of the content provider 120 with the CDN provider nearest to the client 110. Send address 130).

When there is a content request of the CDN provider 130, the content relay device 140 receives the corresponding content from the content provider 120 and transmits the corresponding content to the CDN provider 130.

That is, the content relay device 140 plays a role between the one or more content providers 120 and the one or more CDN providers 130 and serves as one or more CDN providers to the content provider 120. 120 is provided with the content to receive the CDN service, and serves the CDN provider 130 as one or more content providers to provide the CDN provider 130 with the content to receive the CDN service.

In this case, the content provider 120 may be connected to the CDN provider via the content relay device 140 in a 1: n manner to receive a CDN service, and the CDN provider 130 may transmit the content relay device 140. ) Can be connected to the content provider 1: m to receive the content.

In addition, the content relay device 140 collects log information from the one or more CDN providers 130 and delivers the log information to the one or more content providers 120. In this case, the content provider 120 may analyze the corresponding content utilization of the clients 110 located in various regions.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, since the CDN service of the existing CDN provider can be used through the content relay device without changing the system of the existing CDN provider, the initial cost for constructing the CDN service can be significantly reduced.

In addition, when the CDN service area is extended or changed, the CDN provider in charge of the service area may be connected with the content relay device, thereby making it easy to expand or change the CDN service area.

In addition, by inducing the client to receive the CDN service from the CDN provider that can provide the optimal service according to the geographic location of the client among the various CDN providers, it is possible to provide an efficient CDN service.

In addition, by integrating a plurality of CDN providers in charge of various areas through a content relay device, clients may be provided with integrated CDN services for a plurality of CDN service areas.

2 is a diagram illustrating an integrated CDN service method according to an embodiment of the present invention. Here, an example of providing a cache service using a content relay device is illustrated.

Referring to FIG. 2, the client 110 requests an IP address of the content provider 120 from the content relay device 140 (①).

The content relay device 140 transmits the address of the CDN provider 130 to the client 110 instead of the IP address of the content provider 120 (②).

At this time, the content relay device 140 checks the location of the client 110, the CDN provider 130 that can provide the optimal service to the client 110 of the plurality of CDN providers associated with it After the selection, the address of the CDN provider 130 is transmitted to the client 110. Here, the CDN provider 130 that can provide the optimal service may be, for example, a CDN provider located in a position closest to the client 110.

The client 110 accesses the CDN provider 130 and requests an IP address of the content provider 120 (③). In this case, the client 110 accesses the content router 131 of the CDN provider 130.

The content router 131 transmits the IP address of the edge node 134 located closest to the location of the client 110 to the client 110 instead of the IP address of the content provider 120 (④). .

The client 110 accesses the edge node 134 and requests predetermined content (⑤). In this case, the edge node 134 checks whether the content is stored in the edge node 134, and if the content is stored in the edge node 134, transmits the corresponding content to the client 110. .

If the content is not stored in the edge node 134, the edge node 134 requests the content from the content relay device 140 (6). At this time, the content relay device 140 checks whether the content is stored in the content relay device 140, and transmits the content to the edge node 134 when the content is stored.

If the content is not stored in the content relay device 140, the content relay device 140 requests the content provider 120 the content (⑦).

The content provider 120 transmits the content requested by the content relay device 140 to the content relay device 140 (8). In this case, the content relay device 140 stores the content in a database (not shown).

The content relay device 140 transmits the received content to the edge node 134 (⑨). In this case, the edge node 134 stores the content in a database (not shown).

The edge node 134 transmits the received content to the client 110 (⑩).

3 illustrates an integrated CDN service method according to another embodiment of the present invention. Here, an example of providing a download or streaming service using a content relay device is illustrated.

Referring to FIG. 3, the content provider 120 transmits a download (or streaming) file to the content relay device 140 to register it (① ′).

After the content relay device 140 stores and registers the download file, the content relay device 140 generates an address where the download file is stored, that is, a first Uniform Resource Locator (URL) (for example, abcd / x) to generate the content provider. And transmits it to 120 (② ').

The content provider 120 inputs a URL transmitted from the content relay device 140 to a predetermined web document (③ '). For example, when the download file is included in the web document and provided, the content provider 120 inputs the URL into the web document.

The content relay device 140 transmits the registered download file to the CDN provider 130 to register it (④ ').

The CDN provider 130 stores and downloads the download file in the edge node 134 and transmits the second URL (eg, efgh / y) of the download file to the content relay device 140. (⑤ ')

The content relay device 140 maps and stores the first URL and the second URL of the download file (6 ′). For example, the content relay device 140 maps and stores the first URL a.b.c.d / x and the second URL e.f.g.h / y.

Here, the first URL refers to an address stored in the content relay device 140 of the download file, and the second URL refers to an address stored in the CDN provider 130 of the download file.

Thereafter, the client 110 is provided with a web document including a second URL (eg, e.f.g.h / y) of the download file (⑦ ').

Specifically, the client 110 requests the IP address of the corresponding web document to the content relay device 140, and includes a web including the second URL of the download file through the steps 1 to 8 shown in FIG. Get documentation.

At this time, when the content relay device 140 requests the web document to the content provider 120 in step ⑦ shown in FIG. 2, the content provider 120 sends the web document to the content relay device in step ⑧. Forwarded to 140.

Then, when transmitting the web document to the edge node 134 in step ⑨ of FIG. 2, the content relay device 140 checks whether the first URL is included in the web document. If included, the first URL is changed to a second URL mapped to the first URL and transmitted. In this case, the content relay device 140 changes the first URL included in the web document into a second URL mapped to the first URL by using mapping information of a database.

In this case, the edge node 134 transmits the web document including the second URL of the download file to the client 110 in the process illustrated in FIG. 2, and the client 110 transmits the download. You will be provided with a web document that contains the second URL of the file.

In order to download the download file in the web document, the client 110 requests the content router 131 of the CDN provider 130 to request the IP address of the download file included in the web document (8 '). ).

The content router 131 transmits the IP address of the edge node 134 that is closest to the position of the client 110 to the client 110 (9 ′).

The client 110 accesses the edge node 134 and requests a download file included in the web document ('′).

The edge node 134 transmits the download file requested by the client 110 to the client 110 ('′).

4 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a content relay device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 4, the content relay device 140 includes a content router 141, a relay server 143, a log collector 145, a database 147, and a controller 149.

When the content router 141 receives the IP address of the content provider 120 from the client 110, the content router 141 transmits the address of the CDN provider 130 located closest to the client 110.

When the relay server 143 receives a predetermined content request from the CDN provider 130, the relay server 143 checks whether the content is stored in the database 147, and stores the content if the content is stored in the database 147. Send to the CDN provider 130.

If the content is not stored in the database 147, the relay server 143 requests the content from the content provider 120, receives the content from the content provider 120, and receives the CDN provider ( 130).

The relay server 143 receives content (for example, a download file or a streaming file) transmitted by the content provider 120 and transmits a first URL of the content to the content provider 120. .

The relay server 143 delivers the received content to the CDN provider 130 and receives a second URL of the content transmitted by the CDN provider 130.

The log collector 145 collects log information from the CDN provider 130. For example, the CDN provider 130 may collect log information in a format of periodically reporting log information on a CDN service status to the content relay device 140, and the CDN provider 130 may log information. When updating, the log collector 145 may download the log information from the CDN provider 130 and collect log information. The method of collecting the log information is not limited thereto, and various methods may be used.

The log information includes information such as log generation time, content access region, content access time, content access number, accessed content, and client's IP address.

The database 147 includes a content database 147-1, a URL mapping database 147-3, and a log database 147-5. Here, the content database 147-1 stores the contents received from the content provider 120.

The URL mapping database 147-3 maps and stores the first URL and the second URL of contents. The log database 147-5 stores log information collected by the log collector 145.

The controller 149 controls each component. For example, when the client 110 requests the IP address of the content provider 120, the controller 149 checks the location of the client 110 and locates the CDN closest to the client 110. The content router 141 is controlled to transmit the address of the provider 130.

When the control unit 149 receives a predetermined content request from the CDN provider 130, the control unit 149 transmits the content to the CDN provider 130 when the content is stored in the content database 147-1. Control server 143.

If the content is not stored in the content database 147-1, the controller 149 requests the content from the content provider 120 and transmits the content from the content provider 120. Receives, and controls the relay server 143 to deliver to the CDN provider 130. In this case, the controller 149 stores the content received from the content provider 120 in the content database 147-1.

When the content provider 120 transmits content such as a download file or a streaming file, the controller 149 stores the content in the content database 147-1, and stores the content, that is, the first URL. The relay server 143 is controlled to transmit the content to the content provider 120.

The control unit 149 delivers the content such as the download file or the streaming file to the CDN provider 130 and receives the second URL of the content transmitted by the CDN provider 130. ).

In this case, the controller 149 maps the second URL of the content transmitted from the CDN provider 130 to the first URL of the corresponding content, and stores the second URL in the URL mapping database 147-3.

In addition, the controller 149 controls the relay server 143 to receive the web document from the content provider 120 when the CDN provider 130 requests a web document.

The controller 149 checks whether the first URL is included in the web document, and if the first URL is included, the controller 149 stores the second URL mapped and stored with the first URL. After extracting from 3), the relay server 143 changes the first URL to the second URL and transmits a web document including a second URL such as a download file or a streaming file to the CDN provider 130. ).

The controller 149 controls the log collector 145 to collect log information from the CDN provider 130 and stores the collected log information in the log database 147-5.

In addition, the controller 149 controls the relay server 143 to deliver the collected log information to the content provider 120. In this case, the content provider 120 may analyze the utilization of each content by using the log information.

Although the present invention has been described in detail with reference to exemplary embodiments above, those skilled in the art to which the present invention pertains can make various modifications to the above-described embodiments without departing from the scope of the present invention. Will understand. Therefore, the scope of the present invention should not be limited to the described embodiments, but should be defined by the claims below and equivalents thereof.

1 is a diagram showing the configuration of an integrated CDN service system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

2 illustrates an integrated CDN service method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

3 illustrates an integrated CDN service method according to another embodiment of the present invention.

4 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a content relay device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Explanation of symbols on the main parts of the drawings

110: client 120: content provider

130: CDN Provider 131: Content Router

134: edge node 140: content relay device

141: content router 143: relay server

145: Log Collector 147: Database

147-1: Content Database 147-3: URL Mapping Database

147-5: Log database 149: Control unit

Claims (17)

One or more content providers; One or more CDN providers storing contents of the one or more content providers in a plurality of edge nodes and providing CDN services to the one or more content providers; And Receives content from the one or more content providers and delivers the content to the one or more CDN providers, and when a client requests a request for the IP address of the content provider, can provide an optimal service to the client among the one or more CDN providers. An integrated CDN service system comprising a content relay device for delivering an address of a CDN provider. The method of claim 1, The content relay device, And collecting log information from the one or more CDN providers and transmitting the log information to the one or more content providers. The method of claim 1, The content relay device, After receiving content from the one or more content providers, transmitting the first URL of the content to the corresponding content provider, delivering the received content to the one or more CDN providers, and then receiving the second URL of the content from the CDN provider. And receiving and mapping and storing a first URL and a second URL of the content. The method of claim 3, The content relay device, When the one or more CDN providers request a predetermined web document, after receiving the web document from the content provider, if the first URL is included in the web document, the first URL is mapped to the first URL. After changing to the second URL, and delivers the web document containing the second URL to the corresponding CDN provider. An integrated CDN service method comprising one or more content providers and one or more CDN providers for storing the contents of the one or more content providers in a plurality of edge nodes, and providing CDN services to the one or more content providers. (A) when the client requests the IP address of the content provider, the content relaying device delivers the address of the CDN provider that can provide the optimal service to the client of the one or more CDN providers; (B) When a client requests an IP address of the content provider, a CDN provider capable of providing the optimal service delivers the IP address of an edge node closest to the client among the plurality of edge nodes. step; And (C) an edge node in a position closest to the client, transmitting the predetermined content to the client. The method of claim 5, After the step (C), And (D) collecting, by the content relay device, log information from the one or more CDN providers, and providing the log information to the one or more content providers. The method of claim 5, Step (C) is (C-1) the edge node requesting the content to the content relay device; (C-2) checking, by the content relay device, whether the content is stored; (C-3) the content relay device requesting the content from the content provider when the content is not stored; And (C-4) the content relay device receives and stores the content, and transmits the received content to the edge node. An integrated CDN service method comprising one or more content providers and one or more CDN providers for storing the contents of the one or more content providers in a plurality of edge nodes, and providing CDN services to the one or more content providers. (A) the content provider transmitting predetermined content to a content relay device; (B) storing and registering the content by the content relay device and transmitting the first URL of the content to the content provider; (C) the content relay device transmitting the content to the CDN provider; (D) the CDN provider storing and registering the content and transmitting a second URL of the content to the content relay device; And (E) the content relay device mapping and storing the first URL and the second URL of the content, integrated CDN service method. The method of claim 8, After step (E), (F) when the client requests the IP address of the content provider, delivering, by the content relay device, an address of a CDN provider capable of providing an optimal service to the client among the one or more CDN providers; (G) When a client requests an IP address of the content provider, a CDN provider capable of providing the optimal service delivers the IP address of an edge node closest to the client among the plurality of edge nodes. step; And (H) further comprising sending, by the edge node in the position nearest to the client, the web document containing the second URL of the content to the client. 10. The method of claim 9, After the step (H), (I) collecting, by the content relay device, log information from the one or more CDN providers, and transmitting the log information to the one or more content providers. 10. The method of claim 9, (H) step, (H-1) the edge node requesting the web document from the content relay device; (H-2) the content relay device requesting the web document from the content provider; (H-3) the content provider transmitting the web document to the content relay device; And (H-4) The content relay device determines whether the first URL is included in the web document, and if the first URL is included, the first URL is mapped to the first URL and stored as a second URL. After changing, sending the web document including the second URL to the edge node. A content router which delivers an address of a CDN provider capable of providing an optimal service to the client among one or more CDN providers when a request is made to request an IP address of a content provider from a client; A relay server receiving content from one or more content providers and delivering the content to the one or more CDN providers; And Control the content router to determine the location of the client to deliver the address of the CDN provider that can provide the best service to the client, and control the relay server to deliver the provided content to the one or more CDN providers And a control unit to control the content relay device. The method of claim 12, The content relay device, And a log collector for collecting log information from the one or more CDN providers. The method of claim 13, The control unit, And controlling the relay server to provide the collected log information to the one or more content providers. The method of claim 13, The control unit, After storing and registering the content transmitted by the content provider, the first URL of the content is transmitted to the content provider, the content is transmitted to the CDN provider, and the second URL of the content transmitted by the CDN provider is received. And then mapping and storing the first URL and the second URL of the content. The method of claim 15, The content relay device, A content database for storing contents received from the content provider; A log database for storing the collected log information; And And a URL mapping database configured to map and store the first URL and the second URL of the contents. The method of claim 15, The control unit, When the content provider transmits a predetermined web document, if the first URL is included in the web document by checking whether the first URL is included, the first URL is mapped to the first URL and stored. And a web document including the second URL to the CDN provider after changing to the second URL.

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