In the previous episodes, we took you on an “internet road trip” to help explicate some of the issues concerning content delivery across the network. However, the network does not work with such efficiency and simplicity as we have previously alluded. In fact, our previous metaphors are still missing some important features that are used in this process. As an attempt to complete the full picture, let us return to our pizza hotline, but this time include the Extended DNS Client Sub-net (ECS). For the explanation of DNS indirection, we imagined that the pizza hotline had to guess where you were, based on the information they had: you are in a hotel. Well this time, let’s say you provided an address, or for the sake of the internet, we implement the ECS. With an address, the hotline operator could look up your location and pizza store proximity on a map in order to choose which store is closer and, theoretically, ensure the fastest delivery time. Continue reading