four ways to purge cdn content
TRANSCRIPT
At Highwinds when designing functionality, we have
to strike a balance between power and usability.
One of which is to offer customers different options
to purge content. Some of our customer needs call
for the facility to script complex and sophisticated
actions as part of their business process.
Others need the ability to delegate simple tasks
or perform one-time fixes without getting bogged
down in technical minutia. It’s in the interest of that
balance that we’ve completely redesigned our purge
user interface with the concept of Purge Workflows.
Best, if you select the star next to a purge workflow
(as seen in the right image on the right of each
workflow), you’ll automatically be defaulted to that
workflow each time you choose to purge content.
The original and likely most familiar of our purge types, purge by URL gives you easy access to deleting
content from the cache by its exact location on any host in your account. If you want to delete a single file
and know its location this is probably the method you’re looking for.
1 Purge by URL
We’ve also included the ability to purge from specific cache keys on the URL in case you need to eliminate a
specific sub-version of the file by query string or cache keyed header.
2 Purge by Path
If your aim is to purge your entire host, or a recursive path within that host, purge by path is the workflow
you seek. When you’ve selected this workflow you’ll be prompted to pick a valid host’s friendly name from
the dropdown and an optional subdirectory location to act as the root of your recursive purge.
3 Purge by Tag
One of the two newest purge methods, purge by tag empowers you to clear the cache of content that
contains one or more of the submitted list of tags as defined by your origin server.
4 Purge by Header
Purge by header allows you to purge content with arbitrary cached header characteristics. With this
workflow you can purge on ANY header and value pair represented in the cache.
By separating out different use cases into unique workflows we hope to bring clarity and convenience to
one of the most frequent procedures our customers engage with. These UI enhancements all represent
branches of the same tree- our RESTful Purge API- and, as such, carry all of the associated features such as
instant purge, cache invalidation (soft purge) and purge receipts.
Learn more about our APIs by visiting our customer support portal and within StrikeTracker.
Purge Receipts
Purge receipts are very important to Highwinds’ customers. Some CDNs let users know their purge requested was
submitted. Using StrikeTracker purge capabilities, Highwinds’ users know that their content has been completely
purged system wide.
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