You can use Alibaba Cloud CDN to accelerate the retrieval of resources from an ECS instance. This topic describes how Alibaba Cloud CDN accelerates content delivery and how to use Alibaba Cloud CDN to accelerate the retrieval of resources from an ECS instance.
Benefits
- All requests destined for the origin server are redirected to CDN edge nodes. This reduces loads on the origin server.
- You are charged for outbound data transfer from Alibaba Cloud CDN instead of outbound data transfer over the Internet. Outbound data transfer from Alibaba Cloud CDN is billed at a lower price.
- Clients retrieve static resources from the nearest CDN edge nodes. This minimizes the network transmission distance and ensures the quality of data transmission.
How it works
If the origin server is an ECS instance, Alibaba Cloud CDN caches static resources, including scripts, images, audio files, and video files, on CDN edge nodes. Clients can retrieve the cached resources from the nearest edge nodes. Dynamic resources, such as data from web programs and databases, are returned from the ECS instance to clients.

Scenarios
The website image.example.com requires acceleration for image retrieval from an ECS instance. The following table describes the business information and requirements.
Item | Description | Scenario |
---|---|---|
Domain name | The domain name accelerated by Alibaba Cloud CDN. | image.example.com |
Business type | Determine the business type based on the website content.
If the website distributes images, set the business type to Image and Small File. |
Image and Small File |
Accelerated region | The region where the website visitors are located. | Mainland China Only |
Origin server domain name | You can select Site Domain or IP
|
ecs.example.com
Note The domain name of the origin server is used in this example.
|
Other services | Enable other features based on your business requirements. |
|
Procedure
The following procedure shows how to use Alibaba Cloud CDN to accelerate the retrieval of resources from an ECS instance. The preceding scenario is used as an example.

Step 1: Make preparations
- An Alibaba Cloud account is created, and the account has passed real-name verification.
- Alibaba Cloud CDN is activated. For more information, see Activate Alibaba Cloud CDN.
- An ECS instance is created. For more information, see Create an instance.
- A domain name to be accelerated is prepared.
Step 2: Add the domain name to be accelerated
Step 3: Configure the domain name
To improve acceleration performance, secure data transmission, and accelerate content delivery, you can enable relevant features based on your business requirements.
Step 4: Add a CNAME record
You must add a CNAME record in the system of your DNS service provider to map the domain name to the CNAME before requests can be redirected to edge nodes. Otherwise, CDN acceleration cannot take effect.