This topic explains what a sandbox is, its impact on domain names, and available solutions.
What is a sandbox?
A sandbox is a set of dedicated points of presence (POPs) for Alibaba Cloud CDN. These POPs are isolated from regular ones and contain high-risk acceleration services.
When is a domain name moved to a sandbox?
Alibaba Cloud CDN are shared acceleration services that serve thousands of domain names. If your domain name is under a DDoS attack or an HTTP flood attack, or experiences a sudden, significant, and unreported increase in bandwidth or QPS, the CDN system may move your domain name to a sandbox to protect other users' services from disruption. This decision is based on an assessment of multiple factors, including the service status of the domain name and the impact of the incident. In the event of a severe attack, other domain names under the same account may also be moved to the sandbox, and you may be restricted from adding new domain names to your account.
Impact on sandboxed accelerated domains
Once a domain name is in a sandbox, Alibaba Cloud CDN no longer guarantee service quality. Your service may become partially or completely unavailable.
If your domain name is configured for acceleration only in regions outside the Chinese mainland and does not have an ICP filing, it becomes inaccessible if moved to a sandbox.
Billing for sandboxed domains
If a domain name that violates our product limitations is attacked, you are responsible for the full amount of any resulting fees.
Traffic to a domain name in a sandbox continues to incur charges.
Can a domain be removed from a sandbox?
To prevent service disruptions for other users, a domain name in a sandbox cannot be removed.
Alibaba Cloud CDN reserves the right to terminate the acceleration service for users who are repeatedly attacked or who incur attacks by violating product limitations. This decision is based on factors such as the domain name's service status and the impact of the attacks.
How to check sandbox status
You will receive an SMS notification when your domain name is moved to a sandbox. You can also check its status in the CDN console. If the instance status shows a green dot and the text Running (in sandbox), the domain name is in the sandbox.
Solutions for sandboxed domains
By default, Alibaba Cloud CDN provide acceleration services and do not offer attack protection. Based on your security requirements, you can use DDoS mitigation or security products that connect directly to Anti-DDoS.