Alibaba Cloud Edge Security Acceleration (ESA) is a global edge network platform that unifies acceleration, security, and edge computing. With 3,200+ points of presence (POPs) worldwide, ESA helps gaming, e-commerce, finance, and media businesses reduce latency, mitigate attacks, and move computing closer to users.
Service architecture
ESA is a unified cloud service that protects and accelerates internet content, applications, data centers, enterprise networks, and AI workloads.
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Global infrastructure
Through globally distributed POPs, ESA connects to major cloud providers, data centers, and carriers, using Anycast routing to minimize end-to-end latency.
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Full-site traffic optimization and protection
ESA optimizes and protects traffic for websites, applications, and AI services at both the network and application layers. Enterprise plan users can also establish private network interconnection between on-premises data centers and the ESA edge, shielding data centers and data assets from exposure. To learn more about this VPC interconnection service, contact your account manager.
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Serverless development platform
ESA provides a Node.js-compatible serverless environment on each POP, combining compute and KV storage capabilities. Developers can deploy websites and applications across the global edge network without managing infrastructure.
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Comprehensive security and performance analytics
ESA collects and stores full-stack logs — DNS, network-layer, and application-layer — in compliance with regulations. Its near-real-time analytics system detects anomalous attacks within minutes.
Why choose ESA
Edge Security Acceleration (ESA) runs on a global infrastructure with 10,000+ ISP direct connections, 3,200+ acceleration nodes, and 180+ Tbps bandwidth. The ESA network delivers:
Low-latency access across the globe
ESA uses Anycast to direct traffic to a high-performance DPI engine, achieving global DNS resolution under 30 ms. A CDN mapping system routes users to the nearest optimal node, and smart routing ensures stable, millisecond-level end-to-end latency.
Multilayer native security protection
ESA provides native Anti-DDoS and Web Application Firewall (WAF) powered by proprietary machine learning algorithms that inspect every request. Global DDoS mitigation capacity exceeds 20 Tbps.
Integrated serverless edge capabilities
Each ESA POP integrates computing, storage, and networking in a serverless service. Deploy with Functions and Pages or images, with automatic elastic scaling and KV storage.
Real-time data monitoring and analytics
ESA provides near-real-time log collection and analytics with multi-level filtering for fine-grained O&M control.
Differences between ESA, DCDN, and CDN
ESA is a comprehensive upgrade that unifies CDN and DCDN into a single platform.
A faster experience
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Feature |
Description |
ESA |
DCDN |
CDN |
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Cache acceleration |
Caches static resources (images, audio, video, CSS) on edge nodes and optimizes routing for dynamic data such as API calls and database requests. |
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Supports static and dynamic resource cache acceleration. |
Supports static resource cache acceleration. |
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ESA provides high-performance, secure DNS hosting with reduced DNS latency and DDoS attack mitigation. |
Supported |
Not supported |
Not supported |
|
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Network optimization |
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Supported |
Not supported |
Not supported |
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Provides Layer 4 TCP/UDP proxy acceleration and protection for scenarios such as real-time gaming and interactive audio/video. |
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Not supported |
More reliable protection
|
Feature |
Description |
ESA |
DCDN |
CDN |
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WAF protection |
Built on WAF 3.0, identifies malicious traffic patterns and forwards only legitimate traffic to the origin. |
More comprehensive WAF protection. Also supports custom mitigation policies and generating mitigation policies from data analytics. |
Basic WAF protection. |
Not supported |
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Defends against high-volume DDoS attacks to protect online business continuity. |
The Entrance, Pro, and Premium editions include basic platform-level DDoS protection. The Enterprise Edition supports up to Tbps-level protection. |
Supports up to Tbps-level DDoS protection. |
Not supported |
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Bot management |
Identifies and blocks malicious or automated bots targeting your website or services. |
Supports bot management through SDK integration for H5 pages and native Android and iOS apps. |
Basic bot management. |
Not supported |
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Restricts origin access to edge node IPs only, blocking direct access from external IPs. |
Supported |
Not supported |
Not supported |
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Defends against large-scale DNS attacks and provides stable resolution at ultra-high QPS. |
Supports hundreds of millions of QPS. |
Supports tens of millions of QPS. |
Not supported |
More flexible computing
|
Feature |
Description |
ESA |
DCDN |
CDN |
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Functions and Pages |
A serverless service for deploying JavaScript code directly on edge nodes. Requests are processed at the nearest node, reducing latency. |
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Supports function deployment only. |
Not supported |
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A Key-Value storage service on edge nodes. Combined with Functions and Pages, it enables same-node data reads for lightweight BaaS and API gateway deployments. |
Supported |
Supported |
Not supported |
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Containerized computing on edge nodes with global deployment and nearest-node scheduling. Eliminates server provisioning and scaling concerns, letting you focus on application development. |
Supported |
Not supported |
Not supported |
Easier configuration
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Feature |
Description |
ESA |
DCDN |
CDN |
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Site access |
One-stop site onboarding that integrates DNS, acceleration, computing, and security. |
Accelerates specified domain names. |
Accelerates specified domain names. |
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SSL/TLS certificate management |
Issue certificates to clients using a shared certificate pool, reducing O&M complexity. |
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Not supported |
Not supported |
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Flexible plan management |
Separates subscription plans from value-added services for straightforward cost control and flexible plan changes. |
Supported |
Not supported |
Not supported |
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Powerful rules |
Highly flexible rules for fine-grained, personalized configurations. |
Supported |
Not supported |
Not supported |
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Traffic control |
Edge nodes use the CDN mapping system and origin probing to distribute traffic across origin servers, reducing latency and improving availability. |
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Simple weight-based and primary/standby site configurations. |
Simple weight-based and primary/standby site configurations. |
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Version management |
Test, deploy, and roll back configuration changes based on custom request rules. |
Supported |
Not supported |
Not supported |
Get started with ESA
Add a domain name to ESA to start using acceleration and protection.
Scenarios
Global business acceleration
Cross-border e-commerce, global games, and international applications face high access latency and security risks across regions.
Recommended solution: Use ESA NS setup mode with cross-border secure acceleration for regions outside the Chinese mainland.
Edge computing for high-concurrency applications
Real-time APIs, personalized recommendations, and IoT data processing benefit from edge-deployed computing logic that reduces back-to-origin latency.
Recommended solution: Accelerate website rendering with edge functions, or use Functions and Pages and MCP for one-click deployment.
Business security protection
Finance, gaming, and government sites that face frequent DDoS, CC attacks, or traffic abuse need strong edge protection for business continuity.
Recommended solution: Use ESA to prevent traffic abuse, and combine with CloudMonitor for automated origin protection.