CDN

The CDN (Content Delivery Network) tab allows you to enable accelerated content delivery for your website, improving load times for visitors worldwide.

What is a CDN?

A Content Delivery Network caches your website’s static content (images, CSS, JavaScript, fonts) on edge servers distributed globally. When visitors access your site, they receive content from the nearest edge server rather than your origin server, resulting in faster load times.

Benefits of CDN

• Faster Page Loads: Content served from edge servers closest to visitors
• Reduced Server Load: Static assets are cached, reducing origin server requests
• Better User Experience: Faster sites lead to lower bounce rates
• Bandwidth Savings: Cached content reduces origin bandwidth costs
• Global Reach: Consistent performance for visitors worldwide

Enabling CDN

1. Navigate to the CDN tab in your site settings
2. Toggle Enable CDN to on
3. A unique CDN prefix will be auto-generated for your site
4. Save your changes

After saving, you’ll see:

• CDN URL: The full URL for your CDN (e.g., https://abc123.cdn.atomicedge.io)
• CDN Prefix: Your unique subdomain prefix

CDN URL

What it is: The unique URL assigned to your site’s CDN instance.

Format: https://{prefix}.cdn.atomicedge.io

Usage:

• WordPress sites: Configure in the Atomic Edge WordPress plugin
• Other sites: Use the CDN URL for static asset paths

CDN Prefix

What it is: Your unique subdomain identifier, auto-generated when CDN is enabled.

Format: 8-character alphanumeric string (e.g., abc12def)

Note: The prefix cannot be changed after generation. If you need a different prefix, disable CDN, save, then re-enable.

Cache Purging

When to Purge

Purge the CDN cache when you:

• Update CSS, JavaScript, or images
• Deploy new site version
• Fix cached errors
• Need immediate changes visible to visitors

How to Purge

1. Go to the CDN tab
2. Click Purge CDN Cache
3. Confirm the action in the modal
4. Wait for the purge to complete (usually 1-5 minutes)

Purge Rate Limiting

To prevent abuse and ensure system stability, cache purges are rate-limited:

• Cooldown: 5 minutes between purges
• Why: Excessive purging defeats caching benefits

Last Cache Purge: Shows when the cache was last purged (e.g., "5 minutes ago", "Yesterday").

CDN Optimization Settings

Brotli Compression

What it is: Modern compression algorithm that reduces file sizes better than gzip.

Default: Enabled (recommended)

Benefits:

• 15-25% smaller files compared to gzip
• Supported by all modern browsers
• Transparent – browsers handle decompression automatically

Image Optimization

What it is: Automatic optimization of images for faster loading.

Default: Disabled

When enabled:

• Images are compressed without visible quality loss
• WebP/AVIF formats served to supporting browsers
• Responsive images generated for different screen sizes

Note: Image optimization may slightly increase initial processing time.

Site Type

What it is: Tells the CDN what type of site you’re running for optimized caching rules.

Options:	Type	Optimizations
WordPress	Optimized for wp-content, wp-includes caching
Laravel	Optimized for public/, storage/ patterns
Drupal 8+	Optimized for sites/default/files patterns
Static Site	Aggressive caching for all assets
Other	Standard caching rules

Recommendation: Select the correct site type for best performance.

Bandwidth Usage

The Bandwidth Usage section shows your CDN consumption:

• Current Period: Usage in the current billing cycle
• Historical Data: Graphs showing usage over time
• Plan Limits: Your bandwidth allowance vs. usage

WordPress Integration

For WordPress sites, use the Atomic Edge WordPress Plugin for seamless CDN integration:

1. Install and activate the Atomic Edge plugin
2. Connect with your API key
3. Go to Settings → CDN
4. Enable CDN integration

The plugin automatically:

• Rewrites asset URLs to use the CDN
• Handles cache busting for theme/plugin updates
• Provides one-click cache purging from WordPress admin

See API Integration for more details on the WordPress plugin.

Best Practices

1. Enable Brotli compression – It’s free performance improvement
2. Set correct site type – Ensures optimal caching rules
3. Avoid excessive purging – Let the cache work for you
4. Monitor bandwidth – Watch for unexpected usage spikes
5. Test after purging – Verify changes are visible

Troubleshooting

CDN not serving content

1. Verify CDN is enabled and saved
2. Check that DNS is properly configured
3. Confirm the CDN URL is being used in your site
4. Wait a few minutes for cache to populate

Stale content after update

1. Purge the CDN cache
2. Clear your browser cache
3. Wait 1-5 minutes for purge to complete
4. Verify with an incognito/private browser window

Purge button doesn’t work

• You may have hit the rate limit (5 minute cooldown)
• Check the "Last Cache Purge" timestamp
• Wait and try again

Images not loading from CDN

1. Check if image optimization is enabled/disabled as needed
2. Verify the CDN URL is correctly configured
3. Check browser console for errors
4. Test the direct CDN URL in a new tab

Plan Limits

Feature	Free	Pro	Enterprise
CDN Access	✓	✓	✓
Brotli Compression	✓	✓	✓
Image Optimization	✓	✓	✓
Bandwidth	Included	Included	Custom
Cache Purge	✓	✓	✓

CDN is available on all plans with no additional configuration required.