Akamai Cache refresh

Question

Hi, anybody know how often akamai servers refresh their cache? I'm a webdesigner, and we use akamai's servers to cache frequently accessed files. When uploading and overwriting files to the akamai FTP, i can't see my new file reflected live. Anybody have any experience with this? thanks!

Answer 1

It is configurable. You will need to talk to whoever in your organisation manages your Akamai account. They will have access to change how and what things are cached. If necessary, they can put you in touch with a technical contact at Akamai.

Answer 2

Bear in mind that the files may be cached elsewhere as well, including at any proxy servers that the client is behind or in the browser's cache itself. An easy way to get around this is to add a query string to the URL, and change the value each time you update the files, or set it to a random value to bypass the cache each time. The server will ignore the query string, but the browser and proxies will think it is a completely different URL and re-request it.

For instance, instead of requesting:

styles.css

request:

styles.css?version=1