Third party cache appliances are configured into a content delivery service
to enable such devices to cache and serve content that has been tagged for delivery
by the service. The invention enables the content delivery service to extend the
reach of its network while taking advantage of high performance, off-the-shelf
cache appliances. If the third party caches comprise part of a third party content
delivery network, the interconnection of caches to the CDS according to the present
invention enables the CDS and the third party network to share responsibility for
delivering the content. To facilitate such "content peering," the CDS may also
include a traffic analysis mechanism to provide the third party network with preferably
real-time data identifying the content delivered by the CDS from the third party
caches. The CDS may also include a logging mechanism to generate appropriate billing
and reporting of the third party content that is delivered from the cache appliances
that have been joined into the CDS.