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Key concepts and terms

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The following list contains key concepts and terminology you may encounter when working with your account team to configure IP Accelerator:

  • Accelerated hostname. Also referred to as ​Akamai​ hostname, srip.net hostname, or slot. This is the hostname to which the customer maps the DNS CNAME. It is the end user request entry point into the IP Accelerator mapping system. It is typically configured using the same hostname used by the customer’s application. ​Akamai Control Center​ then appends the srip.net domain to it as an Edge DNS configuration is created. This is analogous to the edge hostname for ​Akamai​’s CDN products.

  • Akamai hostname. See Accelerated hostname.

  • Client IP stickiness. Maintains the user session state even when end users are mapped to different edge regions during the course of their application session. Client IP stickiness maintains the gateway region, NAT IP, and origin IP assignments for all TCP/UDP connections from the same Client IP.

  • Customer Premises Equipment (CPE). Refers to ​Akamai​-owned servers and related equipment installed on customer premises to create a Customer Premises Gateway (CPG) region.

  • Customer Premises Gateway (CPG). Customer premises gateway region between the SRIP overlay network and the origin server. The CPG functions as a private ​Akamai​ edge (gateway region) that is available to only that one customer. See also Customer Premises Equipment (CPE).

  • Domain Name Server (DNS). Keeps track of domain names and translates them to IP addresses.

  • DNS CNAME record. A record that specifies that a domain is an alias for another domain. Your DNS server should be configured so that requests for each hostname resolve to a corresponding edge hostname, the latter of which is referred to as the canonical name. Servers across the ​​Akamai​ network use their own CNAME records to resolve these edge hostnames to more specific local server names and ultimately their IP addresses.

  • Dynamic gateway mapping. A recommended but optional feature of the SRIP overlay network that continuously monitors network conditions to determine which ​Akamai​ gateway server will provide the best connectivity to a customer's origin. In ​Akamai Control Center​, enabling this parameter allows IP Accelerator to automatically map users to different gateway regions based on availability and performance.

  • Edge maprule. A rule that determines which SRIP edge regions are considered options in mapping decisions.

  • Edge region. An IP Accelerator server on the SRIP overlay network that provides entrance to or egress from the SRIP overlay network. End users are mapped to the best edge region based on severalfactors including performance, load and maprules. Public edge regions act as gateway regions when they connect the SRIP overlay network with an ​Akamai​ customer's origin server. Customer premises gateway regions cannot act as ​Akamai​ public edge regions.

  • Edge DNS. Software that acts as the entry point to an IP Accelerator CNAME chain for a hostname. Edge DNS hosts the “srip.net” hostname within the IP Accelerator CNAME chain. This is also the hostname to which the customer maps a CNAME. When an IP Accelerator hostname is disabled in ​Akamai Control Center​, it is this Edge DNS or “srip.net” hostname that is reconfigured to CNAME directly to the origin hostname. For more information, see the [Edge DNS guide (https://techdocs.akamai.com/edge-dns/docs/welcome-edge-dns).

  • Gateway region. An edge server on the SRIP overlay network that provides optimum connectivity between the SRIP overlay network and the customer's origin server. A gateway region may be public and available to all IP Accelerator customers, or a CPE gateway region that is for only that one customer.

  • On demand load balancer (ODLB). Software that runs on ​Akamai​'s internal network to provide DNS resolution for IP Accelerator hostnames. ODLB uses data from both Akamai's internal network and the SRIP overlay network to determine the best edge region to which to map a user based on those data inputs and the user’s DNS IP address.

  • Origin IP address. The IP address of an origin server provided by the origin hostname.

  • Origin hostname. A hostname created and managed by the customer that resolves in DNS to the IP address of the origin server. For origin load balancing, the origin hostname can also resolve to multiple IP addresses. The resulting set of origin IPs must be in the same location. If the customer hostname is aaa.bbb.com, then the origin hostname will be origin-aaa.bbb.com.

  • Origin server. The server or appliance to which IP Accelerator directs traffic, for example, a Citrix Presentation Server or an SSL VPN gateway.

  • Slot. See Accelerated hostname.

  • SRIP overlay network. IP Accelerator’s SureRoute IP Accelerator Network. IP Accelerator is an ​Akamai​ service that runs on the SRIP network.

Updated 12 months ago