Firewall updates and address change acknowledgment
The Internet’s infrastructure is constantly changing, new network links are introduced, and old links are removed, connections that were reliable and fast one month can become slow and overloaded the next.
When we provision your initial Site Shield map, we optimize the map for your use case, by looking at:
- Anticipated traffic levels
- Origin and end-user geographic locations
- Current network links
Additionally, the corresponding Sure Route map, which is provisioned along with your Site Shield map, helps to route uncacheable content between Edge and Site Shield servers along performance-optimized routes.
We monitor changes in the Internet’s infrastructure and switch the Site Shield servers used for your property’s traffic. When our mapping algorithms determine that additional Site Shield capacity is required from addresses not specified in your Site Shield map (i.e.: not allowed through your firewall), or when we no longer use or own the addresses specified in your Site Shield map, the Site Shield Management application issues an update to the address list and sends a notification to you to update your firewall.
By promptly updating your firewall, you ensure that adequate capacity will be available, that you can achieve the best performance, and that your firewall is not allowing addresses no longer used by Akamai.
To best ensure these outcomes, set the Notification Frequency of your Site Shield map to Daily to get a notification immediately when a new Site Shield address update is available.
You can automate the address update and acknowledgment process using API for Site Shield.
If you choose less frequent email notifications, you can still see update proposals in the Site Shield Management application, as soon as they are available.
If you delay updating your firewall, the Site Shield map could begin to introduce sub-optimal performance to your properties, your firewall could begin to permit traffic from non-Akamai-managed addresses which could allow security bypasses. In some cases, when the number of available Site Shield servers drops to zero, it can result in Denial of Service to your properties.
If our Support team contacts you regarding an urgent update to your Site Shield map, please treat this request as critical to the availability of your applications.
Updated almost 2 years ago