Cloudlets are value-added applications that complement ​Akamai​'s core delivery solutions to solve specific business challenges. Cloudlets bring a site's business logic closer to the end-user by placing it on the edge of the content delivery platform.

Cloudlets:

• Solve specific business or operational needs that complement ​Akamai​'s core delivery products.
• Bring functionality to the edge of the ​Akamai​ network, resulting in fewer requests to origin.
• Are self-serviceable. You can configure each Cloudlet through user interfaces or the Cloudlets API.

See the Cloudlets documentation to learn more.

How Cloudlets work

This is how requests are served with Cloudlets enabled:

1. A customer makes a request for content.
2. The optimal edge server receives an inbound request.
3. The edge server determines which Cloudlet should handle the request.
4. The edge server fetches the policies for the given Cloudlet.
5. The edge server processes metadata logic, generates a response, and sends it to the customer.

Cloudlet configuration overview

Here's the basic configuration process for most Cloudlets. Some Cloudlets have additional configuration tasks outside those listed below. Those steps are documented in each Cloudlet's user guide.

1. If your Cloudlet forwards requests to different origins, set up Conditional Origins in Property Manager.
2. In the Cloudlets Policy Manager:
   • Create a policy.
   • Configure rules for that policy.
   • Activate the policy.
3. In Property Manager:
   • Add the Cloudlet's behavior to the appropriate property.
   • Activate the property on staging or production.