Abstract: A CDN edge server is configured to provide one or more extended content delivery features on a domain-specific, customer-specific basis, preferably using configuration files that are distributed to the edge servers using a configuration system. A given configuration file includes a set of content handling rules and directives that facilitate one or more advanced content handling features, such as content prefetching. When prefetching is enabled, the edge server retrieves objects embedded in pages (normally HTML content) at the same time it serves the page to the browser rather than waiting for the browser's request for these objects. This can significantly decrease the overall rendering time of the page and improve the user experience of a Web site.