A system and method for balancing the load on virtual servers managed by
server array controllers at separate data centers that are geographically
distributed on a wide area network such as the Internet is described. The
virtual servers provide access to resources associated with a domain name
request by a client program. When a Primary Domain Name System (DNS)
determined the requested domain name is delegated to a EDNS, the EDNS
employs metric information and statistics to resolve an IP address for a
virtual server that is selected by the EDNS to optimally balance the load
and provide access to resources associated with the domain name. The EDNS
may load balance name servers. Additionally, the name server load
balancing system may bridge disparate content delivery networks. Internet
addresses are divided into geographical information that is used to
delegate traffic. Also, metric information is collected and analyzed to
help distribute the traffic.