Hi guys,

I am looking for a new CDN provider. I am currently using the Highwinds CDN with VPS.net, but it is useless for static http content.

I'm only listing Rackspace and VPS.net because they are the only companies I am aware of reselling/partnering with top level CDNs who have servers in Asia and Australia.

VPS.net recently ditched Akamai (which wasn't available to me anyway as I didn't have a US postal address zzz) and are using Level3 now. To get a worldwide CDN (Asia and Aus inc) I was quoted $250p/t block (a pretty hefty premium compared to $100p/t for NA/EU [currently on sale for $34.95p/t]), no time limit on when it needs to be used by. They also support origin pull.

Rackspace (Cloud Files) is ?ditching? Limelight for Akamai. They are also finally implementing CNAMEs sometime in q2. Pricing is 18c p/g paid monthly. They don't support origin pull however. The full Akamai network will be available at no added premium.

I've heard that Akamai is the best, but I've also heard that Level3 is quickly overtaking them? I'm also unsure if the solutions being sold by Rackspace and VPS.net even suit my needs, or if they are some sort of a generic CDN. Looking at the Akamai and Level3 sites they seem to list a whole bunch of different sollutions, one of them being complete site delivery...

So I guess the question is: what's the better CDN to be using for static content delivery images/css/cached cms pages? Is it worth the extra dosh for Level3 at VPS.net (also my hosting provider) with origin pull, or should I go with Akamai at Rackspace and use something like http : // fileconveyor DOT org / (*sigh @ 5 post link restriction) to sync files to the CDN (I really don't know how that works or if it's even a solution for my needs).

Just reading through their forums and what people have said about the services and features they provide, it seems like VPS.net is more competent than Rackspace... which raises another question: Rackspace or VPS.net?

You might want to check if VPS.net Level3 offering actually gives you coverage in Asia despite Level3 has footprint there. Bandwidth pricing in the Asia is significantly higher.

I don't think push would be suitable for your needs, and it may be a hassle to sync your files whenever you update your CMS, you'd be uploading file twice (your CMS, and to Akamai).

How much traffic are you pushing right now?

If I remember correctly Akamai dropped out of several markets (IE dropped several resellers such as VPS.net)

Here are some excerpts from my support ticket with VPS.net regarding Level3:
In order to get APAC it's $250/TB
Our special offer $34.95 does not include the APAC region, it includes EU and US
Yes, the price of $250 includes all regions

In terms of traffic it is essentially nonexistent at the moment. Half the reason for wanting to use a CDN is to play around with it and learn, the other half is future proofing and hopefully maintaining quick load times for my Australian clients while saving money on VPS servers by hosting in the US rather than Australia (at least 1/3 the cost).

So I guess the question is: what's the better CDN to be using for static content delivery images/css/cached cms pages? Is it worth the extra dosh for Level3 at VPS.net (also my hosting provider) with origin pull, or should I go with Akamai at Rackspace and use something like http : // fileconveyor DOT org / (*sigh @ 5 post link restriction) to sync files to the CDN (I really don't know how that works or if it's even a solution for my needs).

Just reading through their forums and what people have said about the services and features they provide, it seems like VPS.net is more competent than Rackspace... which raises another question: Rackspace or VPS.net?

I've had a good run using EdgeCast's CDN which is resold by GoGrid. The pricing isn't the cheapest since you are paying for quality. I have found the delivery of small static files (CSS/images/JS) over EdgeCast to be extremely responsive. They have a great POP around the world.

I've been very happy with VoxCloud so far, majority of my visitors in Malaysia served by their node in Singapore.

Rackspacecloud also uses limelight for now which serves via hk and sg

Regarding L3, which seems to be behind footprint.net, you may wish to look at this thread, and in particular post #3.

http://www.webhostingtalk.com/showpost.php?p=7246383&postcount=3

##

Rackspace Cloud doesn't support CNAMEs, and despite massive demand, have always forgone their deadlines for implementing it (check their blog). For me, this is a fairly important feature. With this in mind I would go for vps.net.

Rackspace Cloud doesn't support CNAMEs, and despite massive demand, have always forgone their deadlines for implementing it (check their blog). For me, this is a fairly important feature. With this in mind I would go for vps.net.

rackspace cloud is not the same thing as rackspace/akamai resales. They are completely different offerings. Rackspace is reselling the akamai cdn and rackspace is reselling the L3 cdn.

The particuloar thread referenced above shows why someone just left vps.net/level3 a few hours ago to go to rackspace/akamai.

Hi guys,

I am looking for a new CDN provider. I am currently using the Highwinds CDN with VPS.net, but it is useless for static http content.

I'm only listing Rackspace and VPS.net because they are the only companies I am aware of reselling/partnering with top level CDNs who have servers in Asia and Australia.

VPS.net recently ditched Akamai (which wasn't available to me anyway as I didn't have a US postal address zzz) and are using Level3 now. To get a worldwide CDN (Asia and Aus inc) I was quoted $250p/t block (a pretty hefty premium compared to $100p/t for NA/EU [currently on sale for $34.95p/t]), no time limit on when it needs to be used by. They also support origin pull.

Rackspace (Cloud Files) is ?ditching? Limelight for Akamai. They are also finally implementing CNAMEs sometime in q2. Pricing is 18c p/g paid monthly. They don't support origin pull however. The full Akamai network will be available at no added premium.

I've heard that Akamai is the best, but I've also heard that Level3 is quickly overtaking them? I'm also unsure if the solutions being sold by Rackspace and VPS.net even suit my needs, or if they are some sort of a generic CDN. Looking at the Akamai and Level3 sites they seem to list a whole bunch of different sollutions, one of them being complete site delivery...

So I guess the question is: what's the better CDN to be using for static content delivery images/css/cached cms pages? Is it worth the extra dosh for Level3 at VPS.net (also my hosting provider) with origin pull, or should I go with Akamai at Rackspace and use something like http : // fileconveyor DOT org / (*sigh @ 5 post link restriction) to sync files to the CDN (I really don't know how that works or if it's even a solution for my needs).

Just reading through their forums and what people have said about the services and features they provide, it seems like VPS.net is more competent than Rackspace... which raises another question: Rackspace or VPS.net?

EdgeCast through GoGrid or SpeedyRails.

Origin pull, Gzip, truly global, etc, etc. No hassles. :)

EdgeCast is brilliant. Signed up to them through SpeedyRails. So easy to setup in comparison to others where you need to fill out forms filled with jargan and submit it as a support ticket. 5min + propagation and I was up and running. Couldn't be easier.

Regarding L3, which seems to be behind footprint.net, you may wish to look at this thread, and in particular post #3.

http://www.webhostingtalk.com/showpost.php?p=7246383&postcount=3

##While true, they are aware of the issue and are working towards getting it fixed.

I'd like to add, it really depends if you want origin pull or push. It also begs the question, do you want to have all your domains http://c0182982.cdn1.cloudfiles.rackspacecloud.com for example like mine are. I still use Rackspace cloud/files since I like everything being unified and being billed only at one place. However, the only let downs are the fact that

A) It's a PITA to delete files from cloud files if you have lots
B) They don't support CNAMEs yet so for SEO purposes it's a PITA.
C) It kind of ties into point B, but I'll list it as another point. The fact that if down the road I move from rackspace to somewhere else I'll have to update every single URL. Instead if you went from a place that supported CNAMEs and kept the same CNAME even if a different CDN you wouldn't need to update your URLs.

First, IMO there is no CDN like Akamai. All others are "poor's man CDN" when compared to Akamai. If most of your traffic comes from Australia you have great data centers and good connectivity to run your own edge cache server there at reasonable cost. Regarding "Asia" it is a very different story. How is your traffic distributed?

Rackspace Cloud doesn't support CNAMEs, and despite massive demand, have always forgone their deadlines for implementing it (check their blog). For me, this is a fairly important feature. With this in mind I would go for vps.net.

The way I understand it was that the problems they had with CNAME are due to Limelight CDN and now that they have switched to Akamai things should start moving forward again.

rackspace cloud is not the same thing as rackspace/akamai resales. They are completely different offerings. Rackspace is reselling the akamai cdn and rackspace is reselling the L3 cdn.

The particuloar thread referenced above shows why someone just left vps.net/level3 a few hours ago to go to rackspace/akamai.

Take this as from someone who has done some research for a possible side project but is willing to be corrected:

The rackspace/akamai offering is part of their cloud solution and does not support custom origin. It is as close to if you used S3 and Cloudfront together (except Amazon charges you for the pull to their edge location as a request from your S3 bucket [wtf?], charges you a {tiny} per request fee also allows you to setup your own custom cnames.)

A service like Level3 is all origin pull. Cloudfront has started offering origin pull (they call it custom origin) but I haven't heard anything about that.

What excited me the most was VPS.net's Level(3) reselling offering and their intro price, but they aren't very forthcoming of what exactly they are offering and how all it works. The livechat folks just sent me was a pdf on the Level3 website which was 90% marketing speak and 10% useful information. It wasn't until I googled this thread that I asked about the Asia/Pacific issue and was told about it. But, again, the pricing seems right.

Nothing beats Akamai at CDN, but what Rackspace offers requires you to store your files with Rackspace on Cloudfiles, which is something I don't really want to do.

Your results may vary. Only one I've really tried is Cloudfront and couldn't really notice any latency/speed issues over just using S3. YRMV

Nothing beats Akamai at CDN, but what Rackspace offers requires you to store your files with Rackspace on Cloudfiles, which is something I don't really want to do.

just out of curiosity, why don't you want to store your files on Cloudfiles?

VPS.net is one of the most terrible VPS provider in the world when it comes to server uptime and customer service, please check my experience:

http://www.webhostingtalk.com/showthread.php?t=1045299

Always stay away VPS.net!!!

As said before nothing can even hope to compete with Akamai when it comes to CDN . I've tested their services and they are simply superior .

VPS.net is one of the most terrible VPS provider in the world when it comes to server uptime and customer service, please check my experience:

http://www.webhostingtalk.com/showthread.php?t=1045299

Always stay away VPS.net!!!

VPS.net has nothing to do with Level3 other than they are reselling their services.

As said before nothing can even hope to compete with Akamai when it comes to CDN . I've tested their services and they are simply superior .

Are you sure about that? For me, Akamai is significantly slower than other CDNs (MaxCDN, EdgeCast, Level3, CloudFlare). Websites that use Akamai vs the ones mentioned are noticeably slower.

Literally all tests that I've seen (a lot of tests and blog posts) show that Akamai is a significantly slower than the other companies I mentioned.

We currently use Akamai, we are a top 5000 Alexa domain so pushing considerable traffic/revenue on a monthly basis. Akamai has been good, not great, we occasionally see some intermittent performance issues via monitoring with gomez.

The biggest complaint we have is that I'm not sure how they're monitoring their nodes, but we have had to argue with them on several occasions to look into latency/performance issues.

In fact, we have a couple pending tickets open right now regarding some intermittent slowness expect zZzz response times to these types of issues (from my experience), may not be an issue for some, but for us we have a site load/response time SLA we aim for. We tested out Amazon S3/Cloudfront in our staging environment and looks promising, but not enough to make us switch quite yet.

Not to mention, they're actually quite affordable our bill sits around $1000 each month and certainly a worthy investment.

The biggest complaint we have is that I'm not sure how they're monitoring their nodes, but we have had to argue with them on several occasions to look into latency/performance issues.


Even Microsoft has had to do that with Akamai.

Here are some excerpts from my support ticket with VPS.net regarding Level3:




In terms of traffic it is essentially nonexistent at the moment. Half the reason for wanting to use a CDN is to play around with it and learn, the other half is future proofing and hopefully maintaining quick load times for my Australian clients while saving money on VPS servers by hosting in the US rather than Australia (at least 1/3 the cost).

A lot of content for the Australian market is hosted in the US, but it is far from optimal. As APAC is big, would it be an alternative to focus on AU/EU/USA for CDN, leaving asia out?

A lot of content for the Australian market is hosted in the US, but it is far from optimal. As APAC is big, would it be an alternative to focus on AU/EU/USA for CDN, leaving asia out?

Leaving out Asia, with billions of potential internet users?

An optimal approach would probably be ASIA/AU/EU/USA

Bumping up an old thread, but its also relevant that RCF also does not have Asia POPs. Its a neutered service, much like the one VPS.net provides using L3. APAC is not even an option with RCF.