PACKETIZED CONTENT DELIVERY APPARATUS AND METHODS

Apparatus and methods for delivery of content in a packetized network. In one embodiment, content and/or services can be associated with an IP address. The IP address may be assigned to multiple server devices disposed at geographically diverse locations. Delivery caches may advertise, via a routing protocol, one or more addresses to clients of the network. Route selection may be configured based on one or more rules such as geographical proximity, available bandwidth, server availability, server load, delivery cost, client subscription level, licensing rules, and/or other metric. Delivery caches may be configured to control their availability and/or load through IP address withdrawals and announcements. When the "closest" delivery cache may become unavailable (e.g., it is not announcing the IP address for the content the client is trying to obtain, a route to the next "closest" available delivery cache may be utilized.