This topic provides answers to some commonly asked questions when you add a website to Dynamic Content Delivery Network (DCDN).
What are the benefits of adding a website to DCDN?
Alibaba Cloud DCDN enables you to protect, accelerate, and manage your websites in an efficient manner.
Centralized and simplified management
After you add a website to DCDN, you can manage and configure the root domain and all its subdomains in a centralized manner by using the DCDN dashboard. This makes domain setup much easier compared with traditional CDN services that require you to individually add and configure each subdomain.
Configuration once for the entire domain
If you update configurations of your root domain on DCDN, such as DNS records, cache settings, and security rules, all subdomains can inherit the same updates. This helps save time and reduces the risk of configuration errors, ensuring consistency in performance and security settings across all your subdomains.
Efficient DNS management
With DCDN, you can complete the configuration, modification, and management of your DNS records in a one-stop platform, without the need to switch between different platforms. This significantly simplifies operations and improves management efficiency.
Enhanced security
DCDN offers robust protection measures, such as DDoS mitigation and Web Application Firewall (WAF). Your security settings for the root domain also take efect for all subdomains, providing consistent and comprehensive security.
Improved website performance
The globally distributed network of DCDN ensures that user requests are routed to the nearest point of presence (POP), reducing loading times and enhancing the responsiveness of websites. All subdomains of your website can benefit from this performance improvement. This improves user experience and results in high customer stickiness and conversion rate.
Easy monitoring and analysis
DCDN provides powerful monitoring and analysis tools to help you track website access data, traffic usage, and performance metrics in real time. This centralized monitoring approach lets you detect potential performance bottlenecks or security risks in time and take early measures to ensure security and reliability of your website.
To sum up, DCDN provides centralized management, global configurations, efficient DNS management, enhanced security, improved website performance, and easy monitoring. We recommend that you connect your root domain such as example.com to DCDN. Then, you can implement integrated management of DNS records and caching and security settings in DCDN, achieving an efficient, simple, and secure network experience.
How do I add a subdomain to DCDN?
Only customers on Enterprise plans can add subdomains, such as api.example.com, to DCDN. If you are not on an Enterprise plan, contact us to customize one.
If you are already on an Enterprise plan, add subdomains according to the following procedure.
Add your subdomain
api.example.comto DCDN, with the DNS setup option set to NS. For more information, see Add a website.Click the subdomain name to go to the Overview page. DCDN automatically assigns two nameservers for your subdomain.
Add the corresponding NS records to the DNS settings of the domain at your registrar. The following procedure describes how to add an NS record. Alibaba Cloud DNS is used in this example. The procedure for other DNS providers is similar.
Log on to the Alibaba Cloud DNS console.
On the Domain Name Resolution page, find the root domain name
example.com, and click DNS Settings in the Actions column.Click Add DNS Record. Set Record Type to NS, Hostname to
api, and Record Value to one of the DCDN assigned nameservers that you obtained in Step 2. Retain the default settings for other parameters.
Click OK.
Repeat the preceding steps to add the other NS record.
Switch back to the DCDN console, go to the Overview page of your subdomain, and click Verify Nameserver. After the verification is passed, the subdomain
api.example.comis added DCDN.
What are the differences between NS setup and CNAME setup?
What are the differences between service locations?
DCDN allocates POPs based on the location that you select. Select an appropriate location based on your user distribution. For example, if your users are distributed across the world, select Global. If your users are only distributed across the Chinese mainland, select Chinese Mainland.
Global: DCDN protects and accelerates your website by using its POPs worldwide. To select this location, make sure that your domain name has an ICP filing first.
Chinese Mainland: DCDN protects and accelerates your website by using its POPs in the Chinese mainland. This option also requires an ICP filing for your website.
Global (Excluding the Chinese Mainland): DCDN protects and accelerates your website by using its POPs outside the Chinese mainland. This option does not require an ICP filing.
How do I change the service location for my website?
When you add a website to DCDN, you can select Global, Global (Excluding the Chinese Mainland), and Chinese Mainland as the service location. If your business scope adjusts after that, you can also change the location as needed.
Log on to the ESA console.
In the left-side navigation pane, click Websites.
On the Websites page, find the website that you want to manage, and click the website name or View Details in the Actions column.
In the left-side navigation tree of the displayed page, click Overview.
In the Basic Information section on the Overview page, click Change next to the Location parameter.
In the Change Location dialog box, select the location to which you want to change, and click Change.
How do I disable proxy for my website?
If you select NS setup when you add a website and you want to disable proxy for your entire website at a time, you can use the Pause this website button. Pausing DCDN on a website does not affect your configurations on the page.
Log on to the ESA console.
In the left-side navigation pane, click Websites.
On the Websites page, find the website that you want to manage, and click the website name or View Details in the Actions column.
In the left-side navigation tree of the displayed page, click Overview.
In the Advanced Actions section on the Overview page, click Pause this website.
In the message that appears, click OK.
After the DCDN proxy is disabled for your website, all traffic to the website directly goes to your origin server without being proxied. This exposes the IP address of your origin server. Exercise caution when you perform this operation.
How do I prevent my website from being added by other accounts?
DCDN allows a website to be active in only one account at a time.
If other accounts add and activate the same domain name that is already activated by an account, the website may be unavailable. You can enable site hold to prevent other accounts from adding your domain and its subdomains.
This feature is available only in Enterprise plans.
Log on to the ESA console.
In the left-side navigation pane, click Websites.
On the Websites page, find the website that you want to manage, and click the website name or View Details in the Actions column.
In the left-side navigation tree of the displayed page, click Overview.
In the Quick Actions section on the Overview page, turn on Site Hold.
