A method of delivering a live
stream is implemented within a
content delivery network (CDN) and includes the high level functions of recording the
stream using a recording tier, and playing the
stream using a player tier. The step of recording the stream includes a set of sub-steps that begins when the stream is received at a CDN
entry point in a source format. The stream is then converted into an intermediate format (IF), which is an internal format for delivering the stream within the CDN and comprises a stream manifest, a set of one or more fragment indexes (FI), and a set of IF fragments. The player process begins when a requesting
client is associated with a CDN HTTP proxy. In response to
receipt at the HTTP proxy of a request for the stream or a portion thereof, the HTTP proxy retrieves (either from the archive or the
data store) the stream manifest and at least one fragment index. Using the fragment index, the IF fragments are retrieved to the HTTP proxy, converted to a target format, and then served in response to the
client request. The source format may be the same or different from the target format. Preferably, all fragments are accessed, cached and served by the HTTP proxy via HTTP. In another embodiment, a method of delivering a stream on-demand (VOD) uses a translation tier (in lieu of the recording tier) to manage the creation and / or handling of the IF components.