Getting Started with NOC CDN | NOC.org Support

The NOC CDN accelerates your website by caching and delivering content from edge servers located around the world. This guide walks you through adding your first site, configuring the origin, selecting cache regions, enabling SSL, and updating your DNS.

Prerequisites

• An active NOC.org account (sign up at dash.noc.org).
• Access to your domain's DNS settings at your registrar or DNS provider.
• Your origin server's public IP address or hostname.

Step 1 — Add Your Site

1. Log in to the NOC Dashboard.
2. Click Sites in the left sidebar, then click Add Site.
3. Enter your domain name (e.g., example.com) and click Continue.
4. NOC will scan your existing DNS records and import them automatically. Review the imported records and confirm.

Step 2 — Configure Your Origin IP

The origin IP tells NOC where to fetch content that is not yet cached at the edge.

1. In your site's settings, navigate to CDN » Origin.
2. Enter your origin server's IP address (e.g., 203.0.113.50) or a hostname (e.g., origin.example.com).
3. Set the origin port. The default is 443 for HTTPS or 80 for HTTP.
4. If your origin requires a specific Host header, enable Custom Host Header and enter the value.
5. Click Save.

Step 3 — Choose Cache Regions

NOC operates edge PoPs across multiple continents. You can select which regions cache your content.

1. Go to CDN » Cache Settings.
2. Under Edge Regions, check the regions you want to enable (e.g., North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific).
3. Set your default Cache TTL. A good starting value is 86400 seconds (24 hours) for static assets.
4. Optionally enable Query String Caching if your URLs use query parameters for different content.
5. Click Save.

Step 4 — Enable SSL

NOC provides free TLS certificates via Let's Encrypt, or you can upload your own certificate.

1. Navigate to CDN » SSL/TLS.
2. Select Auto SSL to have NOC provision and renew a Let's Encrypt certificate automatically.
3. Alternatively, click Custom Certificate and paste your certificate, private key, and CA bundle.
4. Enable Force HTTPS to redirect all HTTP requests to HTTPS.
5. Click Save. Certificate provisioning typically completes within a few minutes.

Step 5 — Update Your DNS

Point your domain to the NOC CDN by updating your DNS records.

1. In the NOC Dashboard, go to DNS » Records. Note the CNAME target provided (e.g., example.com.cdn.noc.org).
2. At your DNS provider, update your domain's A record to the NOC IP addresses shown, or create a CNAME record pointing to the CDN target.
3. If you are using NOC as your authoritative DNS provider, these records are managed directly in the dashboard.
4. DNS propagation typically takes 5 to 30 minutes, though it can take up to 48 hours depending on TTL settings.

Verify Your Setup

Once DNS has propagated, confirm the CDN is working:

curl -I https://example.com

Look for the x-noc-cache header in the response. A value of HIT means the page was served from the NOC edge cache. A value of MISS means it was fetched from origin and is now cached for subsequent requests.

Next Steps

• CDN Overview — learn how caching and edge delivery work in detail.
• CDN PoP Locations — see the full list of edge locations.
• NOC API — automate CDN configuration via the REST API.