This article details out to configure Lumen CDN Load Balancer multi-CDN selector for your specific workflow and use case.
Configure your CDNs
Our dashboard lets you input your CDN configurations to allow CDN Load Balancer to switch between your CDNs.
Note: the dashboard look and feel is currently being updated. The following screenshots might be slightly different from what you see in your dashboard.
Changes made to a CDN configuration take up to 10 minutes to be effective.
Step 1 - Create your CDNs
| Parameter name | Mandatory | Description |
|---|---|---|
| CDN Name | Yes | The name of the CDN as it will be displayed in the graphs section of your dashboard. |
| CDN Host | Yes | The host of your CDN. This must include the scheme (https:// or http://). This is the part of the url that will be swapped when switching between CDNs during a session. It should not contain any part of the path. |
Step 2 - Group CDN in configurations and lists
| Parameter name | Mandatory | Description |
|---|---|---|
| CDN Configuration Name | Yes | The name of the CDN Configuration. This will be referenced when creating properties and attaching a CDN list to a property. |
| CDN Business Score | Yes |
The business score associated with a certain CDN in that CDN list. This is an integer between 1 and 100, and it impacts the overall CDN score to reflect your business priorities. Check out this article for more details.
|
Step 3 - Create a new property and reference your CDN lists
To configure your CDNs, you will need to create a new property or edit the default property:
Note: If you see the activation ratio frozen reach out to sales@streamroot.io to get started.
| Parameter name | Mandatory | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Property Name | Yes | The name (used as a unique identifier) of your CDN Load Balancer property. Two properties can't have the same name. |
| CDN List | Yes | The name of the CDN list that you want this property to use. Scroll down the page to see where and how to create a CDN list. |
| CDN Score Provider | Yes | The CDN data provider can be left empty, in which case CDN Load Balancer will rely on Lumen's own backend to fetch initial CDN scores. You can also choose Citrix as your provider and have CDN Orchestrator use Citrix ITM to gather initial scores for CDNs. If you are using Citrix, you only need to configure your CDNs in the Lumen dashboard if you want a failsafe in case Citrix ITM API is down. More info here. |
| Activation Ratio | Yes | Activation Ratio enables CDN Load Balancer on a certain percentage of your traffic. It can be used for testing and progressive production ramp-up. If the activation is 20%, 20% of viewers who have Compass in their page will turn it on. |
Advanced configurations - Country & ISP CDN lists
The Country & ISP configurations allows you to create specific CDN lists for certain Countries and/or ISPs. With these configurations, it is possible to define a different set of CDNs or change the Business Scores for a specific Countries and/or ISPs where you want CDN Load Balancer to beave differently.
| Parameter name | Mandatory | Description |
|---|---|---|
| CDN List Name | Yes | The name of your CDN List. Two CDN Lists can't have the same name. |
| Countries | No |
The list of country names where you want the CDN List to be used. The country list is extracted from Maxmind DB. Countries are updated twice a week. |
| ISP | No |
The list of Internet Service Provider where you want the CDN List to be used. ISP names are case insensitive and must match To retrieve the format of the ISPs are updated twice a week. |
Example: Creating a list for a specific country
Pick the country using the search engine.
Then you can pick a new set of CDNs and define a their Business Scores.
In this specific example, the CDNs remained the same, but the priority order has changed.
Example: Creating a list for a specific ISP
Add the ISP name.
Then you can pick a new set of CDNs and define a their Business Scores.
In this specific example, a CDN was added to the list and one removed.
Relationships between Countries and ISPs
When using this configurations, it is important to keep in mind the relationships between the Countries and ISPs. They are related in the following way:
- We always check at ISPs before Countries
- If no ISP is specified, this mean the CDN List will apply to ALL ISPs
- If no country is specified, this mean the CDN List will apply to ALL countries
- Then, the logic applies in this order:
- If a list match both the ISP and the country, we return it
- If not, if a list match the ISP and ALL countries, we return it
- If not, if a list match ALL ISPs and the countries, we return it
- If not, if a list match ALL ISPs and ALL countries, we return it (this is the equivalent of the Default List)
- If at the end more than one list match, we return the Default List
In the Examples above:
- If a user is in the UK and using any ISP, he will get the Default List
- If a user is in the UK and using ISP "Orange", he will get the "VOD Orange" list
- If a user is in Spain and using any ISP, he will get the "VOD Spain" list
- If a user is in Spain and using ISP "Orange", he will get the "VOD Orange" list