NetDNA launched an instantaneous HTTP caching rules service called EdgeRules
CDN provider NetDNA launched on Tuesday its new instantaneous HTTP caching rules service called EdgeRules. The service gives site managers granular control over their content, which NetDNA said marks the first time it is possible to “test, tweak and deploy very granular controls over how and when content is served.”
EdgeRules helps site managers optimize their users’ experience, improve security, lower bandwidth cost, and monetize content through the prevention of hotlinking.
The EdgeRules service can be added to NetDNA’s EdgeCaching and EdgeCaching for Platforms, both services that are used by hosting companies and their customers. The HTTP caching services place site content in NetDNA’s worldwide network of edge servers and 600 peering partners.
Site managers can use the EdgeRules control panel to make changes to content rules, and the changes are enacted in near real-time, NetDNA said, since there is no review needed from its engineering team. EdgeRules is not the only NetDNA service that enables deployment changes in near real-time; NetDNA’s recently launched NetDNA Acceleration Platform allows developers to make changes in zones, cache-setting and SSL within minutes.
“EdgeRules truly gives website manages the ability to manage their CDN services their way and to finely tune their pull zone content in a way that they never could before,” David Henzel, NetDNA vice president of marketing. “NetDNA is well known for giving site managers unprecedented control over their CDN service through our control panel. With EdgeRules, we are at the forefront of CDN self-provisioning again.”
EdgeRules can be used by site managers to keep certain files from being proxied. For example, it can prevent the exposure of directory indices due to misconfiguration, which NetDNA said is a common problem on cloud services like Amazon S3.
Different rules can be set for different files or classes of data so that frequently updated files can be classed differently from more static data, reducing calls to the origin server which lowers bandwidth charges.
EdgeRules can also be used to blacklist certain IP addresses, and can read the operating system of a device and serve optimized content for that device.
One example of how a customer is using EdgeRules is UPROXX, a network of six sites that curates the best of web culture. It uses EdgeRules to ensure that content isn’t improperly shared – an image alone is shared, for example, and not the entire story that accompanies it. When this happens, the company is charged for the bandwidth, but can’t count it as a pageview.
“The ability of the EdgeRules add on to instantly create and apply new rules allowed us to test various solutions to our content sharing issue and eventually come up with a solution that fixed it completely,” Jerry Thompson of UPROXX said in a statement. “We’re ecstatic because this solution has meant an increase in revenue and an overall better user experience.”
Talk back: Are you a NetDNA customer? What do you think of its new granular control HTTP caching service? Let us know in a comment.
About Nicole Henderson
Nicole Henderson is the Editor in Chief of the Web Host Industry Review where she covers daily news and features online, as well as in print. She has a bachelor of journalism from Ryerson University in Toronto. You can find her on Twitter @NicoleHenderson.
