This article covers information about Cloud Files and its access to a content delivery network (CDN).

HTTP or HTTPS access to Cloud Files containers#

You can access every Cloud Files container through HTTP or HTTPS.

In the Cloud Control Panel, select Storage > Files, click the gear icon for the container, and select View All Links, which displays the following CDN links:

  • HTTP: https://cdc4c16471588d4846bf-cc339a649709710bbecd3db1e126ec2b.r3.cf1.rackcdn.com

  • HTTPS: https://ac3c779acb946eaf4819-cc339a649709710bbecd3db1e126ec2b.ssl.cf1.rackcdn.com

  • Streaming: https://b0c42c537095921be66c-cc339a649709710bbecd3db1e126ec2b.r3.stream.cf1.rackcdn.com

  • iOS Streaming: https://09ac235af93af07922d6-cc339a649709710bbecd3db1e126ec2b.iosr.cf1.rackcd

Note: Streaming and iOS Streaming URLs will be decommissioned on July 31, 2022.

If you find that the HTTP URL is too long, you can shorten it with a CNAME pointing to that URL.

Because the CNAME technique does not work for HTTPS, you can set up Cloud Files with access to a CDN with a secure delivery option. Optionally, you might want to self-host the content.

The HTTPS link is a shared certificate that you can use to encrypt the connection between the client requesting the object and the Akamai® edge-node to which the client is connecting.

The HTTPS link is useful if the data transmitted has sensitive information in it. The cross-origin resource sharing standard (CORS) is also supported, but it solves an entirely different problem. Specifically, CORS solves the access problem of asynchronous requests by a browser that browses a website with a domain that is different from the Cloud Files link. For more information on this topic, see the Enable CORS site or the Cloud Files API documentation.

Access CDN-enabled objects#

Cloud Files does not support access control on CDN-enabled objects.

To access those objects, you should self-host the files on a server and configure Rackspace CDN, which allows you to restrict access based on Internet Protocol (IP) address ranges.

You should not daisy chain CDN services, but you can set up a Rackspace CDN configuration that has an origin as a Cloud Files container. This allows you to keep your files in a container and utilize Rackspace CDN’s restriction feature.