Akamai Overview
Akamai is a leading global provider of content delivery network (CDN) and cloud services, designed to enhance the performance, security, and reliability of online applications and content delivery.
What Akamai Does
Akamai’s platform is built to optimize the delivery of content, applications, and APIs over the internet. It achieves this by leveraging a vast network of edge servers distributed globally, bringing content and applications closer to end-users. This approach significantly reduces latency, improves load times, and enhances the overall user experience.
Key Features and Functionality
Content Delivery
- Adaptive Media Delivery: Optimized for adaptive bit rate streaming, this feature ensures high-quality viewing experiences across various network types and speeds, including mobile devices. It supports both live and on-demand streaming media.
- IPv6 Feature: Provides HTTP and HTTPS delivery on a dual-stack network, ensuring compatibility with both IPv4 and IPv6 protocols.
Security
- Application & API Protector (AAP): Protects against a range of threats including DDoS attacks, SQL injection, cross-site scripting, and malicious bots. It includes features like rate control protections, network and application layer controls, and bot visibility & mitigation controls.
- DDoS Fee Protection: For customers with an active subscription to Akamai’s DDoS Fee Protection Service, this module helps mitigate DDoS attack-related overage fees.
- Malware Protection: An optional add-on that detects and intercepts suspected malicious file uploads before they reach the customer’s protected domains.
- Bot Manager: Uses various detection techniques to identify and manage bot traffic, distinguishing between human and automated requests.
API Management
- API Gateway: Helps customers manage, govern, and scale APIs by providing distributed access, policy, and traffic controls. This is achieved through Akamai’s edge server network, reducing the need for round trips to the origin server.
- API Acceleration: Offers a secure, resilient, and scalable solution for API owners, enhancing the performance and reliability of API traffic.
Edge Computing
- EdgeWorkers: Allows developers to create and deploy custom JavaScript functions at the edge, closer to users. This brings data, insights, and decision-making closer to the end-users, enhancing performance and responsiveness.
Performance Optimization
- Adaptive Image Compression: Dynamically re-compresses image files based on current network conditions, reducing file size and improving transmission speed.
- Enhanced Akamai Protocol: A suite of advanced routing and transport optimizations designed to increase website performance and reliability.
Analytics and Management
- Real-time Analytics: Provides detailed performance and security analytics for web properties through the Akamai API, enabling real-time monitoring and optimization.
- Configuration Management: Allows developers to programmatically manage and deploy configurations for Akamai services using the Akamai API.
Additional Features
- DNS Manager: A comprehensive DNS management interface that supports various DNS record types and features like AXFR transfers and zone types.
- Client Reputation: Computes risk scores associated with end-user clients, helping to filter out malicious users based on these scores.
- Cloudlet: Specialized functionalities that enhance Akamai delivery services, such as API Prioritization, Application Load Balancer, and Audience Segmentation.
Conclusion
In summary, Akamai offers a robust suite of services that combine content delivery, security, API management, edge computing, and performance optimization to ensure that online applications and content are delivered quickly, securely, and reliably. Its extensive range of features and functionalities make it a powerful tool for businesses looking to enhance their online presence and user experience.