HTML delivery from edge-of-network servers in a content delivery network (CDN)

A content delivery network provides delivery of cacheable content files, such as HTML. To support HTML delivery, the content provider provides the CDNSP with an association of the content provider's domain name to an origin server domain name at which default HTML files are published. The CDNSP provides its customer with a CDNSP-specific domain name. The content provider then implements DNS entry aliasing so that domain name requests for the host cue the CDN DNS request routing mechanism. This mechanism identifies a content server to respond to a request directed to the customer's domain. The CDN content server returns a default HTML file if such file is cached; otherwise, the content server directs a request for the file to the origin server to retrieve the file, after which the file is cached on the content server for subsequent use.