News portals have two unique challenges:
Frequent content updates (breaking news, homepage refreshes)
Sudden traffic spikes (viral stories, elections, sports events)
5centsCDN is built to handle both with a combination of intelligent caching, fast purge controls, global routing, and strong security protections.
1. Recommended CDN Configuration for News Portals
Smart Caching Strategy for Articles & Breaking News
A successful news CDN setup requires different caching rules for different content types.
A. Published Articles (High Cache Efficiency)
Examples:
– Article pages after publishing
– Category pages
– Static assets (images, CSS, JS)
Recommended 5centsCDN Setup
– Enable CDN Edge Caching
– Configure Browser Caching with custom expiry
– Use longer TTLs for stable content (5–60 minutes)
Benefits
✅ Faster page load globally
✅ Reduced origin server load
✅ Improved SEO and user experience
B. Breaking News & Homepage Updates (Low TTL + Purge)
Examples:
– Homepage
– Breaking news banners
– Live update pages
Recommended Setup
– Apply shorter TTLs (10–60 seconds)
– Use client-controlled purge for immediate updates
– Combine purge + prefetch for high-demand pages
Why it works
Breaking news requires freshness, but caching still protects against sudden surges.
C. Multi-Layer Caching with Midgress
5centsCDN supports:
– Edge caching (closest to users)
– Midgress caching (shielding the origin)
– This reduces cache misses and protects your backend during peak traffic.
2. Best Practices for Frequent Updates & Traffic Spikes
News sites experience unpredictable demand. 5centsCDN provides built-in performance tools to stay online and fast.
A. AI Routing for Traffic Optimization
5centsCDN uses AI-based routing to direct traffic through the most efficient network paths.
Result
✅ Lower latency
✅ Better global performance
✅ Stability during surges
B. Global PoPs (Plan-Based Coverage)
Depending on the plan, traffic is served from the nearest available Point of Presence.
Ideal for
– National news sites
– International audiences
– Regional editions
C. Load Balancing Support
5centsCDN supports load balancing to distribute requests across multiple origins or backend servers.
Use case
– Prevents overload during breaking events
– Improves uptime and redundancy
D. Always Online Reliability
With Always Online, cached content can still be delivered temporarily even if the origin becomes slow or unavailable.
This is critical for:
– Election nights
– Crisis coverage
– Major live events
3. Limitations, Risks & Common Issues
A CDN is powerful, but configuration matters.
Common Risks
Issue Recommendation
Over-purging reduces cache performance Purge only required URLs or patterns
Very dynamic pages may bypass cache Use short TTL + smart caching rules
Misconfigured headers cause stale content Use CDN-controlled expiry settings
Origin overload during spikes Enable Midgress + Always Online
4. Security Features Available in 5centsCDN
News portals are frequent targets for scraping, DDoS attacks, and unauthorized reuse.
5centsCDN includes multiple security controls:
A. DDoS Protection
Built-in protection against volumetric and traffic-based attacks.
B. Geo Blocking (Country Access Policy)
Restrict or allow access by region.
Useful for:
– Licensing rules
– Threat mitigation
– Regional compliance
C. IP Allow/Deny Policies
Control access for:
– Admin endpoints
– Internal-only services
– Trusted partners
D. Request Rate Limiting
Helps prevent:
– Bot abuse
– Scraping
– Excessive request floods
E. Secure Token (Signed URL Protection)
5centsCDN supports tokenized URL access, meaning content cannot be accessed without a valid token.
Includes:
– Full or partial path protection
– Token expiration controls
– Optional IP binding
Ideal for:
– Premium content
– Media protection
– Anti-hotlink enforcement
– F. HTTPS Enforcement + HSTS
– Redirect HTTP → HTTPS
– Enable strict transport security
Improves:
✅ Security
✅ Trust
✅ SEO ranking
5. Cache Purge Options & Expected Behavior
5centsCDN provides flexible purge controls directly from the portal or API.
Purge Options Available
– Purge by Path
– Purge by Pattern (Wildcard)
– Purge Entire Zone
– Bulk purge (up to 50 entries per request)
– Client-Controlled Purge Workflow
Clients choose what content to invalidate
Cache is automatically rebuilt from origin on the next request
Best for rapid news corrections and updates
Prefetch Support
For large or high-demand files, 5centsCDN also supports Prefetch, which preloads content into cache before users request it.
Recommended for files:
– Larger than 200MB
– Less than 5GB
Conclusion
5centsCDN is well-suited for modern news portals by combining:
Smart edge + midgress caching
AI routing + load balancing
Fast client-controlled purging
Always Online resilience
Strong security controls
This ensures publishers can deliver breaking news instantly, securely, and at global scale.