cloudthinker-ai CDN Optimization Review
Phase 1: Current State Assessment
- Collect CDN performance metrics
- Cache hit ratio (overall and per content type)
- Origin request rate and latency
- Edge latency by geographic region
- Bandwidth consumption and costs
- Error rates (4xx, 5xx) at edge and origin
- TLS handshake times
- Review current CDN configuration
- Identify top-requested content by volume and bandwidth
Performance Baseline
| Metric | Current | Target | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cache hit ratio | % | > 90% | |
| P50 edge latency | ms | < 50ms | |
| P95 edge latency | ms | < 200ms | |
| Origin request rate | req/s | < current * 0.1 | |
| Error rate | % | < 0.1% |
Phase 2: Cache Policy Optimization
- Review and optimize cache behaviors
- Set appropriate TTLs per content type (static, dynamic, API)
- Configure cache key normalization (query string sorting, header filtering)
- Enable compression (gzip, Brotli) at edge
- Set correct Cache-Control and Vary headers at origin
- Remove unnecessary query parameters from cache keys
- Configure stale-while-revalidate and stale-if-error
- Identify cache-busting patterns reducing hit ratio
Cache Policy Matrix
| Content Type | Current TTL | Recommended TTL | Cache Key | Compression |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| HTML | gzip/br | |||
| CSS/JS | gzip/br | |||
| Images | N/A | |||
| API responses | gzip | |||
| Fonts | gzip | |||
| Video/media | N/A |
Phase 3: Origin Optimization
- Optimize origin configuration
- Enable origin shield / mid-tier cache
- Configure connection keep-alive to origin
- Set up origin failover and health checks
- Optimize origin response headers for caching
- Reduce origin response times
- Evaluate need for multiple origins
- Configure custom error pages at edge
Phase 4: Edge Computing Review
- Review edge function usage and opportunities
- URL rewrites and redirects at edge
- A/B testing and feature flags
- Authentication at edge
- Image optimization and resizing
- Response header manipulation
- Geographic routing logic
- Optimize existing edge functions for performance
- Identify new edge computing opportunities
Phase 5: Security Configuration
- Review CDN security settings
- DDoS protection enabled and configured
- WAF rules appropriate and not over-blocking
- Bot management configured
- TLS configuration (TLS 1.2+, strong ciphers)
- HTTP Strict Transport Security (HSTS)
- Content Security Policy headers
- Signed URLs/cookies for private content
Phase 6: Geographic Performance Analysis
- Analyze performance by region
- Identify regions with high latency
- Verify POP coverage for target audience
- Consider additional origin regions for global apps
- Test from key geographic locations
- Optimize for mobile users and low-bandwidth regions
Regional Performance
| Region | P50 Latency | P95 Latency | Cache Hit % | Bandwidth | Action Needed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| North America | ms | ms | % | ||
| Europe | ms | ms | % | ||
| Asia Pacific | ms | ms | % | ||
| Other | ms | ms | % |
Counter-Rationalizations
| Shortcut | Counter | Why |
|---|---|---|
| "We can skip some steps for this case" | Adapt the workflow steps, don't skip them | Skipped steps are where incidents and oversights originate |
| "The user seems to already know what to do" | Complete all workflow phases with the user | The workflow catches blind spots that experience alone misses |
| "This is a minor case, full process is overkill" | Scale the process down, don't turn it off | Minor cases become major when unstructured; the process scales, not disappears |
| "I'll fill in the details later" | Complete each section before moving on | Deferred details are forgotten; real-time capture is more accurate |
| "The template output isn't necessary" | Always produce the structured output format | Structured output enables comparison, audit trails, and handoff to other teams |
Output Format
- Performance Baseline: Current metrics by region and content type
- Cache Policy Updates: Recommended TTL and cache key changes
- Origin Optimization: Configuration changes for origin efficiency
- Security Review: Security configuration recommendations
- Cost Analysis: Projected savings from optimization
Action Items
- Collect current CDN performance metrics
- Optimize cache policies and TTLs
- Configure origin shield and connection optimization
- Review and update security configuration
- Test changes in staging before production
- Monitor cache hit ratio improvement over 7 days