Distributed computing system and method for distributing user requests to replicated network servers

Routing requests for data objects from clients includes receiving a request for a data object from a client, providing content servers capable of serving data objects, determining a server from the content servers, and informing the client of an address associated with the determined server accessible by the selected route. Determining a server includes, for each content server, identifying routes between the content server and the client, determining traversal times for the routes, and selecting a route from among the routes based on the traversal times.