Optimize Azure CDN for the type of content

delivery
• Article
• 5 minutes to read

•
•
When you deliver content to a large global audience, it's critical to ensure the optimized delivery of
your content. Azure Content Delivery Network (CDN) can optimize the delivery experience based
on the type of content you have. The content can be a website, a live stream, a video, or a large file
for download. When you create a CDN endpoint, you specify a scenario in the Optimized for
option. Your choice determines which optimization is applied to the content delivered from the
CDN endpoint.
Optimization choices are designed to use best-practice behaviors to improve content delivery
performance and better origin offload. Your scenario choices affect performance by modifying
configurations for partial caching, object chunking, and the origin failure retry policy.
This article provides an overview of various optimization features and when you should use them.
For more information on features and limitations, see the respective articles on each individual
optimization type.
Note
When you create a CDN endpoint, the Optimized for options can vary based on the type of profile
the endpoint is created in. Azure CDN providers apply enhancement in different ways, depending
on the scenario.

Provider options
Azure CDN Standard from Microsoft profiles supports the following optimizations:
• General web delivery. This optimization is also used for media streaming and large file
download.
Note
Dynamic site acceleration from Microsoft is offered via Azure Front Door Service.
Azure CDN Standard from Verizon and Azure CDN Premium from Verizon profiles support
the following optimizations:
• General web delivery. This optimization is also used for media streaming and large file
download.
• Dynamic site acceleration
Azure CDN Standard from Akamai profiles support the following optimizations:
• General web delivery
• General media streaming
• Video-on-demand media streaming
• Large file download
• Dynamic site acceleration
Microsoft recommends that you test performance variations between different providers to select
the optimal provider for your delivery.

Select and configure optimization types

When you create a CDN endpoint, select an optimization type that best matches the scenario and
type of content that you want the endpoint to deliver.
General web delivery is the default selection. You can only update Azure CDN Standard from
Akamai endpoints optimization at any time.
For Azure CDN Standard from Microsoft, Azure CDN Standard from Verizon and Azure
CDN Premium from Verizon, you can't.
1. In an Azure CDN Standard from Akamai profile, select an endpoint.
 2. Under SETTINGS, select Optimization. Then, select a type from the Optimized for drop-
down list.

Optimization for specific scenarios

You can optimize the CDN endpoint for one of these scenarios.

General web delivery

General web delivery is the most common optimization option. It's designed for general web
content optimization, such as webpages and web applications. This optimization also can be used
for file and video downloads.
A typical website contains static and dynamic content. Static content includes images, JavaScript
libraries, and style sheets that can be cached and delivered to different users. Dynamic content is
personalized for an individual user, such as news items that are tailored to a user profile. Dynamic
content, such as shopping cart contents, isn't cached because it's unique to each user. General web
delivery can optimize your entire website.
Note
If you are using an Azure CDN Standard from Akamai profile, select this optimization type if
your average file size is smaller than 10 MB. Otherwise, if your average file size is larger than 10
MB, select Large file download from the Optimized for drop-down list.

General media streaming

If you need to use the endpoint for live streaming and video-on-demand streaming, select the
general media streaming optimization type.
Media streaming is time-sensitive, because packets that arrive late on the client, such as frequent
buffering of video content, can cause a degraded viewing experience. Media streaming optimization
reduces the latency of media content delivery and provides a smooth streaming experience for
users.
This scenario is common for Azure media service customers. When you use Azure media services,
you get a single streaming endpoint that can be used for both live and on-demand streaming. With
this scenario, customers don't need to switch to another endpoint when they change from live to on-
demand streaming. General media streaming optimization supports this type of scenario.
For Azure CDN Standard from Microsoft, Azure CDN Standard from Verizon, and Azure
CDN Premium from Verizon, use the general web delivery optimization type to deliver general
streaming media content.
For more information about media streaming optimization, see Media streaming optimization.

Video-on-demand media streaming

Video-on-demand media streaming optimization improves video-on-demand streaming content. If
you use an endpoint for video-on-demand streaming, use this option.
For Azure CDN Standard from Microsoft, Azure CDN Standard from Verizon, and Azure
CDN Premium from Verizon profiles, use the general web delivery optimization type to deliver
video-on-demand streaming media content.
For more information about media streaming optimization, see Media streaming optimization.
Note
If the CDN endpoint primarily serves video-on-demand content, use this optimization type. The
major difference between this optimization type and the general media streaming optimization type
is the connection retry time-out. The time-out is much shorter to work with live streaming
scenarios.

Large file download

For Azure CDN Standard from Akamai profiles, large file downloads are optimized for content
larger than 10 MB. If your average file size is smaller than 10 MB, use general web delivery. If your
average files sizes are consistently larger than 10 MB, it might be more efficient to create a separate
endpoint for large files. For example, firmware or software updates typically are large files. To
deliver files larger than 1.8 GB, the large file download optimization is required.
For Azure CDN Standard from Microsoft, Azure CDN Standard from Verizon, and Azure
CDN Premium from Verizon profiles, use the general web delivery optimization type to deliver
large file download content. There is no limitation on file download size.
For more information about large file optimization, see Large file optimization.

Dynamic site acceleration

Dynamic site acceleration (DSA) is available for Azure CDN Standard from Akamai, Azure
CDN Standard from Verizon, and Azure CDN Premium from Verizon profiles. This
optimization involves an additional fee to use; for more information, see Content Delivery Network
pricing.
Note
Dynamic site acceleration from Microsoft is offered via Azure Front Door Service which is a global
anycast service leveraging Microsoft's private global network to deliver your app workloads.
DSA includes various techniques that benefit the latency and performance of dynamic content.
Techniques include route and network optimization, TCP optimization, and more.
You can use this optimization to accelerate a web app that includes numerous responses that aren't
cacheable. Examples are search results, checkout transactions, or real-time data. You can continue
to use core Azure CDN caching capabilities for static data.
For more information about dynamic site acceleration, see Dynamic site acceleration.