A method and apparatus for serving content requests using global and local
load balancing techniques is provided. Web site content is cached using
two or more point of presences (POPs), wherein each POP has at least one
DNS server. Each DNS server is associated with the same anycast IP
address. A domain name resolution request is transmitted to the POP in
closest network proximity for resolution based on the anycast IP address.
Once the domain name resolution request is received at a particular POP,
local load balancing techniques are performed to dynamically select the
appropriate Web server at the POP for use in resolving the domain name
resolution request. Approaches are described for handling bursts of
traffic at a particular POP, security, and recovering from the failure of
various components of the system.