PressCDN

This is an all-inclusive article that will cover a broad range of CDN-related topics:

• Bandwidth vs CDN
• Setting up a Custom CDN Host
• Using a HTTPS CDN Host
• Using your CDN URLs
• Useful CDN Information

Bandwidth vs CDN

Pagely allows a block of Bandwidth and CDN for each plan.

We encourage users to utilize the CDN service as not only will it make your site faster, the data used will be counted against the CDN allotment and not the bandwidth allotment. We also provide Bandwidth and CDN expansion for every plan should your site see exceptional growth!

If you find yourself using more of one or the other on the plan, you may simply purchase more. If you aren't sure what upgrade is best for you, please contact support so we can better assist you.

What's the Difference?

Bandwidth is network data metered on all assets delivered to the end user's browser from our network/servers. The bulk of this, is typically the rendered page output (including static assets) delivered as a response to the user.

CDN is also network data metered on assets delivered to the end user's browser. But instead of our network delivering the asset, it is delivered by our PressCDN service. Typically all CSS, JS, images, and fonts would be delivered by the CDN.

Example: On this large page below, only 53k (2.6%) of the total data we would classify as Bandwidth, the remaining assets would be delivered by our CDN.

This is why our plans have a lower Bandwidth allotment. We can serve the bulk of your static assets via CDN network.

Important: If our PressCDN service is not enabled on the site, all data is classified as normal Bandwidth. Be sure to enable CDN so you do not exceed your bandwidth allotments.

NOTE: We highly recommend you offload any large static files/downloads as our services are geared towards serving dynamic content. Also, offloading those files can keep your overall bandwidth usage much lower and likely within your account allotments.

Setting Up a Custom CDN Host

Note: Due to changes within our CDN provider, as of 4/8/19, you'll need to contact support to make changes related to custom CDN hosts.

You can use any first level sub-domain you wish for your CDN host (ex. cdn.example-site.com).

You can view the CDN zones from the specific app page or you can view all active CDN zones here: https://atomic.pagely.com/presscdn

After you find the correct CNAME for your specific site (these are unique for each site), you will need to create them if you are not already using PressDNS.

If you are managing your DNS zone with another provider, you must create the CNAME record for your CDN sub-domain or it will not work.

Once the new custom domain resolves with the correct CNAME (sxxxxx.pcdn.co), you can log into the WordPress Dashboard to update the settings by clicking on the Pagely icon > PressCDN

You will then update the HTTP CDN URL with your newly minted custom CDN domain.

Using a HTTPS CDN Host

Our default URLS (sxxxxx.pcdn.co) can be used via HTTP or HTTPS. This protocol is determined by site usage and our plugin is already auto-populated with this default URL.

You may also use HTTPS for your custom CDN domain (ex. https://cdn.example-site.com), but you will need a valid SSL certificate that is for this sub-domain or includes the CDN sub-domain as a SAN (Subject Alternative Name). You can purchase a commercial SSL certificate if you wish, but you will need to provide the certificate to our support team to install on our end.

Alternatively, we can also provide a AWS ACM certificate via DNS validation. If your domain is not using PressDNS, you will need to work with our support team to set up the validation DNS record.

Using Your CDN URLs

Please see our How to enable CDN in WordPress article.

Useful CDN Information

• Using a custom CDN host may be useful should your local network have specific rules that may not allow our *.pcdn.co.
• We DO NOT recommend using Pagely-hosted CDN URLs for external sites as we have rules in place that prevents hot linking. Any external sites should host static assets locally.
• We DO NOT recommend using our default CDN URLs for email/marketing campaigns. If you'd like to use your site's static assets, you'll want to setup a Custom CDN host instead (please see above)