If a domain name does not need to be accelerated by Alibaba Cloud Content Delivery Network (CDN), you can disable the domain name or remove it from CDN.
Differences between disabling and removing an accelerated domain name
You can disable acceleration by disabling or removing an accelerated domain name.
If your domain name is disabled but not manually by you, your account or domain name may have triggered rules for disabling accelerated domain names.
Disable an accelerated domain name
Description
After you disable an accelerated domain name, acceleration is suspended, and the status of the domain name becomes Disabled in the CDN console.
After acceleration is suspended, you may still be charged by DCDN. For more information, see FAQ.
Scenarios
Maintenance and updates: When your origin server requires major updates or maintenance, you can disable the accelerated domain name to ensure that users can obtain the latest resources.
Other scenarios: You want to temporarily disable acceleration and retain configured settings for the domain name.
After you disable an accelerated domain name, the CNAME record that you configured for the accelerated domain name still exists. When a user requests the domain name, the CNAME record points to an invalid address. The request is not sent to the points of presence (POPs) or the origin server.
Remove an accelerated domain name
Description
After you remove an accelerated domain name from CDN, acceleration is permanently disabled.
If you want to accelerate a removed domain name, re-add the domain name to CDN and complete relevant settings.
Scenarios
Domain name change: You want to replace the old domain name with a new one.
After you remove an accelerated domain name, the CNAME record that you configured for the accelerated domain name is also removed. When a user requests the domain name, the request is directly sent to the origin server.
Prerequisites
Before you disable or remove an accelerated domain name, we recommend that you migrate the workloads of the domain name to another domain name to prevent service interruptions. You can migrate workloads from a domain name to another domain name by using one of the following methods:
Add a domain name to replace the one that you want to remove. Then, requests are sent to the new domain name, and workloads are gradually migrated to the new domain name.
In the DNS settings of the domain name that you want to remove, map the accelerated domain name to the origin server instead of the CNAME.
Usage notes
If you deactivate CDN, your business may be interrupted. Alibaba Cloud does not provide an option to deactivate CDN in the console. However, as long as you do not add domain names to CDN or use features such as EdgeRoutine, you are not charged for CDN. For more information, see How do I deactivate or stop the billing of CDN?
Procedure
Disable an accelerated domain name
Log on to the Alibaba Cloud CDN console.
In the left-side navigation pane, click Domain Names.
On the Domain Names page, find the domain name that you want to disable and choose
> Disable in the Actions column. In the message that appears, click OK.
Remove an accelerated domain name from CDN
Log on to the Alibaba Cloud CDN console.
In the left-side navigation pane, click Domain Names.
On the Domain Names page, find the domain name that you want to remove and choose
> Delete in the Actions column. In the message that appears, click OK.
Related API operations
StopCdnDomain: disables an accelerated domain name.
DeleteCdnDomain: removes an accelerated domain name from CDN.
FAQ
Why am I still charged after I disable the accelerated domain name?
In most cases, after you disable the accelerated domain name, requests to the domain name are redirected to an invalid address and do not pass through CDN POPs. In rare cases, after you disable the accelerated domain name, requests to the domain name may still pass through the POPs.
Causes
1. The resolution record is cached in the DNS server.
If a user uses a local DNS server, the resolution record of the domain name may still be cached on the local DNS server because records on the local DNS server are not frequently updated.
In this case, when a user accesses the accelerated domain name, although the CNAME record points to an invalid address, the CNAME record in the cache of the local DNS server still points to a POP address. The request is still redirected by the POP to the origin server to retrieve the resource. Once a request passes through a POP, the request generates traffic and corresponding fee.
2. The domain name is bound to a POP in the hosts file.
After a user obtains the IP address of a POP, the user binds the accelerated domain name to the IP address in the hosts file.
In this case, when the user accesses the accelerated domain name, the request skips the DNS server, reaches the POP based on the record in the hosts file, and is redirected to the origin server to retrieve the resource. Once a request passes through a POP, the request generates traffic and corresponding fee.
Solution
The preceding cases are both unconventional access due to user reasons. If you do not want to be charged by CDN after acceleration is suspended, follow instructions in Remove an accelerated domain name from CDN.