Abstract: An overlay on a wide area network is disclosed. The wide area network includes at least one backbone network, and the overlay includes a processor coupled to the backbone network. The processor furthermore contains instructions which, when executed, cause the processor to optimize real time performance of data delivery from the processor to another processor on the wide area network. A method of optimizing at least two routes in a wide area network is also provided. The method includes optimizing a first route based on a first characteristic and optimizing a second route based on a second characteristic.