We have a similar issue and are moving off SimpleCDN to see if the Google Webmaster performance reporting tool changes significantly.

:confused:

What replacement variables are people using?

Just "images/ and the standard image folder names with the full cdn url before it?

images do not need RRs. You can move images to/from the CDN using stylevars.

But how can I move the /icons/ avatars/ folder? any idea?

Another question, I've setted up the cdn within the stylevars, but after running the YSlow plugin from Firefox, it tell's me to move these imgs to a cdn (they already are on a cdn)... sounds crazy.... any tip for this?

FYI,

For those interested in how to create automated switchover between a CDN and their origin server (or other CDN or web server) in case of problems with their CDN, see this blog post:

[PHP] Web Failover Code Using cURL and Shared Memory

It is pretty easy to take the PHP code in the blog post above and create a vB Plugin.

--------------- Added [DATE]1266171883[/DATE] at [TIME]1266171883[/TIME] ---------------

For the past view months, SimpleCDN is performing very poorly. We have moved most of our traffic off SimpleCDN until (if or when) there service improves.

Our EU traffic is not even served from the EU, it is served from the US. Ditto for Asian traffic, it is not served from Asia, but from the US.

At the moment, SimpleCDN is performing very poorly. I don't recommend them at this time.

Hi, i have gotten an account, any way to have my files hosted there? Thanks.

Looks like SimpleCDN got bigger faster than they could handle, from SimpleCDN's website:

Yes, that is right. If you don't already have a SimpleCDN "Mirror Bucket" you will have to wait. They have grown too fast and also are having trouble serving content in the EU.

Because we are a long time customer, they offered us a free three month trial of their new "Hot Cache" service, which serves correctly in both the US and the EU, so far.

Also, we have moved to using Apache2 mod_rewrite in combination with vB RRs to get content from the CDN. After working with this for quite some time, I have found the following:

1. Use a CNAME in your DNS so you can easily switch CDN providers.
2. Use Apache2 mod_rewrite to direct content (like clientscript and images) to the CDN.
3. Use vB Relevant Replacements (RRs) for some of the ones not easily done with mod_rewrite.

We are actually using both Mirror Buckets (for dynamic images like avatars) and HotCache for static ones.

Prices are currently around 4 cents per GB/month for MirrorBucket and cheaper for HotCache if you have 4TB per month plus of content delivered (not cost effective for forums serving less CDN traffic, but cheaper than many others...)

--------------- Added [DATE]1270310384[/DATE] at [TIME]1270310384[/TIME] ---------------

With MirrorBuckets, you don't need to host anything. It automatically grabs any file that is not currently in the CDN from the origin server (provide the path is the same... a mirror..)

Has anyone found another service that offers something comparable to SimpleCDN's "Mirror Bucket"? I should've really reserved a Mirror Bucket when I had the opportunity to, since the dynamic storage of images is exactly what our forum needed, but I stuck with the Upload bucket for our main static content.

SimpleCDN claims their Mirror Bucket service will be "available for new accounts" in a few months.

Also, they told me they are also working on adding the same feature to their more expensive (for low volume traffic) "Hot Cache" offering, but I would not hold my breath for that one.

MaxCDN has Pull Zones which do the same job as SimpleCDN's Mirror Buckets. Try them. They're also working on a vBulletin plugin, but it's taking a long time.

Thanks so much for that. How does MaxCDN compare with SimpleCDN in terms of performance and reliability? They seem very competitively priced.

--------------- Added [DATE]1270693151[/DATE] at [TIME]1270693151[/TIME] ---------------

Do you have an example .htaccess rule that you are using, and where you are putting it? I'd love to leverage mod_rewrite for as much of my redirection as possible.

But they charge 10cents per GB, expensive.

http://www.maxcdn.com/pricing.php

Considering its performance is significantly better than SimpleCDN, and it is offering 1000 GB for $10 for introductory sign-ups, I definitely think it's worth taking it out for a spin.

User Album Pictures
Back to CDN -- I noticed that User Album Pictures, even when stored in the file system, are still actually served by the script (they are .picture datafiles, and the script decompresses them). Does this mean that one cannot put pictures from the user albums on the Live! or Pull CDNs? This is strange because I am still able to serve attachment files (which are rewritten considerably) through the CDN.

I just signed up with maxcdn. I'm very interesting to see how this will affect the site.

Any tips for setting up with MaxCDN? (I am still on Vb 3.8.5)

--------------- Added [DATE]1271361255[/DATE] at [TIME]1271361255[/TIME] ---------------

I have signed up for MaxCDN today...

And I am having an issue with replacement variables...

I want to change images/smilies to cdn1.myserver.com/smilies but when I do this what is sent by the server is http://www.myserver.com/cdn1.myserver.com/smilies

If I tell it to change images/smilies to http://cdn1.myserver.com/smilies it is sent by the server as http://www.myserver.com/http://cdn1....er.com/smilies.

How do I keep it from putting in my servers domain name before the replacement?

Thanks!

The The UNIX and Linux Forums are now using MaxCDN (switched from SimpleCDN). There is an August 4th, 2010 blog post about their initial impressions of MaxCDN: http://www.unix.com/blog/2010/08/ini...s-with-maxcdn/. ------------------ Regarding this query above: in vBulletin, the URL for Smilies are set in the AdminCP.

I signed up for MaxCDN and having a few troubles getting it working on my site (which uses vBSEO). A few issues that are cropping up:

1. All sort of issues with the icons for edit post, reply to post, etc. aren't showing up., but it appears their alt tags appear instead.
2. The attachment manager kicks back a security token error.
3. Edit posts, reply posts buttons don't work on first click -- requires a second click.

Everything works properly when I remove portions of the replacement variables outlined by MaxCDN.

Their support hasn't been help at all.

Any suggestions.

We have no problem with MaxCDN for vBulletin and certainly do not rely on their support staff for vB integration.

The problem you are having is with your knowledge of how to move content to a CDN. It has nothing to do with MaxCDN (or any CDN) for that matter.

If you don't understand how your content is served, then you will have trouble with moving content to any CDN.

Correct. I do need help and was simply pointing out that MaxCDN offers limited support. I have not doubt it can/will work, but it's not easy or I'd have it working by now.

If you have any suggestions beyond the wiki, I'd love to learn more about your set up and what might be the cause of my setup problems.

Thanks. It is not really possible to comment without knowing how you set things up.

With proper set up for the CDN to serve only static content (images, clientscript (java and css files)), there is no reason for any security token errors.

First, you should outline all the steps you have done so far.

For us, we simply change the style variables, change the location of smilies etc in the AdminCP and add a few replacement variables for client script.

Another method which works equally well, is to use Apache mod_rewrite, but we don't do it that way.

OBTW, in case you did not read this blog post over at The UNIX and Linux Forum about MaxCDN and their initial impressions on their vB forum:

http://www.unix.com/blog/2010/08/ini...s-with-maxcdn/

Just wondering if anyone has been able to come up with a solution for moving the attachment directories out to S3 or another CDN?

There are a number of ways to do this. Perhaps the easiest way is to simply edit the postbit_attachment template and change:

to...


You could also do this with RRs, but you would need to be careful not to replace the code which uploads the attachment; so I advise you to just edit the template that displays the attachment (above).