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EdgeNext versus Lumen

Easily compare EdgeNext and Lumen for POP locations, products, pricing, features & support. We hope this helps you better understand the similarities and differences between these content delivery networks.

EdgeNext logo Lumen logo

Company

Company EdgeNext Lumen
Short profile EdgeNext is a leading provider of edge cloud services specializing in China, APAC, MEA and global cloud delivery. As the only service provider with extensive POPs in China to be recognized by Gartner as possessing 'global' network capabilities, EdgeNext is one of the fastest-growing companies in the CDN space. Lumen (formerly known as Centurylink or Level 3) owns and operates a global Tier-1 network and - logically - their CDN runs on top of it. Lumen CDN has POPs on many continents and their product focus is on video, large object delivery and edge computing.

Products

Yes
Sort of/partially
No
Extra costs
Unknown
Product EdgeNext Lumen
Dynamic content deliveryNon-cacheable content delivery. User login, shopping cart ... Dynamic Acceleration CDN Edge Compute
Small file deliveryStatic object delivery; caching of small files (file size <1 MB) CDN CDN and/or CDN Edge Compute
Large file deliveryStatic object delivery; caching of large files (file size >1 MB) CDN
Live videoDelivery of live video. RTMP? Transcoding/transmuxing? Streaming CDN and/or CDN Mesh Delivery
Video on demandDelivery of on demand video Streaming CDN and/or CDN Mesh Delivery
Image OptimizationAutomatic image transformation/compression/optimization part of CDN Edge Compute
DNSAuthoritative DNS for customer domain Global, including China
WAFWeb Application Firewall Part of the Security CDN WAF
Anti-DDoSDDoS attack protection. Specific product(s) for this. Part of the Security CDN Lumen DDoS Hyper (on-demand) and DDoS Mitigation Service
Private CDNDedicated edge resources & custom configs CDN Mesh Delivery for Enterprise
Edge ComputeRun your code on CDN edge servers Edge Compute

Network

How many POP locations do EdgeNext and Lumen have in different parts of the world?

Region EdgeNext Lumen
North America 29 28
Latin America 14 11
Europe 16 35
Russia & CIS 4 0
Asia excl. China 38 7
China 1100 0
Oceania 1 5
Middle East 18 4
Africa 5 3

Pricing

Pricing & contract duration EdgeNext Lumen
Minimum contract term None for self-service customers Unknown
Minimum monthly costs None for self-service customers Unknown
Requests costsCustomers pay for client to CDN requests None Unknown
Ingress costsCustomers pay for origin-to-CDN bytes transferred None Unknown
NA/EU traffic (low volume) Unknown Unknown
APAC traffic (low volume) Unknown Unknown
LATAM traffic (low volume) Unknown Unknown

Features

Yes
Sort of/partially
No
Extra costs
Unknown
Web acceleration EdgeNext Lumen
Instant setupSign up, configure, start testing. Self-service create account and configure account (EdgeNext to approve account) Not yet, but coming soon.
Change propagation delayHow fast do config changes propagate to all POPs? <5 minutes No longer than 15 minutes - Often instant
Apex/root domain OK Blog: Root domain on CDN and performanceNo performance degradation when using http(s)://domain.com Available with Section product for an additional fee
HTTP/2
HTTP/3
WebSockets
IPv6Do the edge servers have IPv6?
Compression CDN Guide: CompressionReduce file size for faster delivery Resend from origin, or compress on edge
tooltip Fetch compressed or uncompressed from origin (configurable)
Resend from origin, or compress on edge
Origin pull - protocolHTTP only or HTTPS possible too? HTTP and HTTPS HTTP and HTTPS.
Origin pull - Host headerUse client > edge value? Set specific value? Configure specific other Host header
tooltip CDN can also forward client request Host header to origin
Configure specific other Host header
tooltip CDN can also forward client request Host header to origin
Origin ShieldOne POP pulls from origin, other POPs pull from the shield POP
Waiting RoomDuring peak traffic, route users to a virtual waiting room
Push / uploadStore your content directly on CDN, no customer origin Upload in the portal or via API FTP, SFTP, rsync. Storage costs apply
Cache control - CDN caching Full and granular control
Cache control - client caching Full and granular control
Serve Stale CDN Guide: Serve StaleCDN serves cached but expired content in case origin is in trouble Cache-Control extensions support
Purge CDN Guide: PurgeInvalidate or delete cached objects on CDN Instant Instant
Purge - capabilities Purge all, purge by directory, soft purge Purge all but not purge by directory or tag or header
Analytics Many metrics in the UI
Log files Available for download in Portal or via API. Format can be customized.
API Purge, configuration, analytics, logs Purge, analytics, configuration
HTTPS & Content Protection EdgeNext Lumen
CDN domain HTTPSUse the CDN's domain, like cloudfront.net
Customer domain HTTPSYour domain in the CDN's certificate SNI. Pricing is custom.
Customer cert HTTPSYour certificate on the CDN Pricing is custom
Token authentication Not self-service, support is needed
Geo blocking Not self-service, support is needed
Hotlink protectionThird parties cannot deeplink to your content Self-service
Basic authenticationUser logs in on the CDN to get content Self-service
IP white/blacklisting Self-service

Support

Customer support EdgeNext Lumen
Documentation Good documentation Yes, but not public
Humans 24/7 email support and phone support. Multiple support packages are available