Monitor and report on service, traffic, and threats

You can monitor and report on Edge DNS service availability, traffic, and threats by creating reports in ​​Control Center​.

Alternatively, you can monitor traffic programmatically using the ​Akamai​ Reporting API. With this API, you can retrieve DNS hit information to monitor traffic in real time.

Edge DNS reports

Edge DNS reports provide real-time and historical reporting about the authoritative DNS service. Each report lets you display data on a dashboard according to selected filters.

The following reports monitor traffic on the service. Use these reports to analyze usage patterns, troubleshoot threats, forecast capacity, and compile information for others. Used together, these reports provide a rich picture of your Edge DNS traffic.

  • Edge DNS
  • Edge DNS Today
  • Edge DNS Zone Detail

Additionally, there are two traffic reports that provide details about potential threats. A potential threat is defined as a large relative increase in NXDOMAIN responses, either as a sharp spike or as a sustained increase.

  • Edge DNS Threats Summary
  • Edge DNS Threat Details

The next table summarizes the Edge DNS reports available on ​Control Center​, and provides links to detailed information about each report.

ReportDescription
Edge DNS AvailabilityTracks availability (uptime) of the service for the selected contract and time frame up to 90 days.

The report includes a graphic visualization displaying availability percentages over the selected time frame. Additionally, the report includes metrics for the average, maximum, and minimum availability.

Edge DNSIncludes traffic data on the service for the selected zones and time frame up to 90 days.

The report provides graphic visualizations for DNS requests per second and NXDOMAIN responses per second, along with summary metrics for total DNS hits, peak DNS hits per second, total NXDOMAIN hits, and peak NXDOMAIN hits per second. Additionally, the report provides per-zone summary metrics for the number of DNS requests, number of NXDOMAIN responses, and percentage of NXDOMAIN responses.

Edge DNS TodayIncludes more detailed traffic data than the Edge DNS report, for the selected zones and time frame up to 14 days.

The report provides a heat map of query source locations by geographic region, along with graphic visualizations and metrics of DNS requests and nonexistent domain (NXDOMAIN) responses.

Edge DNS Zone DetailIncludes even more traffic data than the Edge DNS Today report, for one selected zone during the selected time frame up to 14 days.

The report provides a heat map of query source locations by geographic region, along with graphic visualizations and analytics of DNS requests. Additionally, the report provides hits per second over time, record-level counts, and top NXDOMAINs for the selected time frame.

Record-level counts are helpful to learn about use at the label level. Top NXDOMAINs help characterize and understand a common attack vector known as random subdomain, where an attacker gains control over a subdomain of a target domain.

Edge DNS Threats SummaryIncludes summary data about potential threats associated with the selected zones and time frame up to 90 days.

The report includes graphic visualizations of DNS requests per second and NXDOMAIN responses per second over time, a table summarizing the graph metrics, and a table listing per-zone metrics of potential threats. Additionally, the report includes a link to each zone's Edge DNS - Threat Details report for further threat analysis.

Edge DNS Threat DetailsProvides more data than the Edge DNS - Threats Summary report about potential threats associated with one selected zone for the selected time frame up to 90 days.

For the selected zone threat, the report provides threat summary metrics and graphic visualizations of DNS requests per second and NXDOMAIN responses per second, heat maps with DNS request counts and NXDOMAIN response counts by geographic region, and record-level counts of the most-requested existing DNS records and most-requested nonexistent DNS records.

Configure Edge DNS reports

The time ranges and details returned by a report varies based on the filter values you choose. By default, the first time you access a report in your account, the report displays data for the current day. When you change the date range, the system remembers your configuration and ties it to your account ID. The next time you access the report with your account, the report displays data for the last configured date range.

Complete the following instructions to configure an Edge DNS report. For additional information, see also How to use reports.

  1. Log in to ​Akamai Control Center​ and go to > COMMON SERVICES > Traffic reports. The REPORTS page opens.

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    Reports are available based on the services you use and your permissions in Control Center.

  2. In the left sidebar, hover over the Edge DNS icon and from the context menu, select a report from these options:

    • Edge DNS
    • Edge DNS - Availability
    • Edge DNS - Today
    • Edge DNS - Zone Detail
    • Edge DNS - Threats Summary
    • Edge DNS - Threat Details

    The report panel on the left side of the page appears dimmed, and the Select filters panel on the right is active.

  3. Select filter values to refine the report data. For guidance, see Date ranges and Filters. When you are done, click Apply.

    The Select filters panel closes. The report dashboard displays on the page.

Schedule report delivery

After you've configured a report, you can schedule it for email delivery. Select filters and view the report in the browser before scheduling it for delivery. For additional information, see Scheduled reports.

  1. In the browser, open the report you want to schedule for delivery.

  2. Click the graph icon on the top toolbar and select Schedule/Send now.

    You see non-editable details for the chosen report.

  3. In the Report Name field, enter the report name.

    The name defaults to the metric for the report, which you can edit it.

  4. Enter one or more email addresses for the report recipients. Separate email addresses with a comma; do not insert any spaces.

  5. Select one of the available delivery frequencies:

    • Once
    • Daily
    • Weekly
    • Monthly
  6. If you selected a Daily, Weekly, or Monthly frequency, select a date range.

  7. Select one of the following formats.

    • HTML
    • CSV
  8. From the Visualizations menu, select charts that you want included.

  9. Click Apply.