Query bandwidth, traffic, and request counts for your CDN-accelerated domain names. Filter by domain name, time range, and billable region to identify consumption patterns and reconcile billing data.
Data discrepancy: usage data vs. access logs
Traffic reported by the Alibaba Cloud CDN console (and the DCDN console) or API is approximately 1.1 times the traffic recorded in access logs. For details, see Why does usage data differ from logged traffic?
Key concepts
Point of Presence (POP): A CDN edge node that serves content to end users. Resource usage data is collected at the POP level and grouped by the billable region the POP belongs to.
Billable region: A geographic billing zone that groups POPs. Alibaba Cloud CDN uses billable regions such as Chinese mainland, Asia Pacific 1, and North America. Because billing is calculated per region, the same domain name may show separate usage figures for each region it serves traffic through.
Resource usage vs. resource monitoring vs. real-time monitoring
Alibaba Cloud CDN provides three data views. Understanding which to use prevents mismatched numbers when reconciling billing reports.
| Feature | Data collection method | Filter dimensions | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Resource usage | Collected at the POP level | Billable region, domain name, time range | Billing reconciliation, cost analysis |
| Resource monitoring | Based on client IP addresses | Region, ISP | Performance analysis by end-user location |
| Real-time monitoring | Based on client IP addresses | Region, ISP | Live traffic observation |
For more information, see Resource monitoring and Real-time monitoring.
Queryable metrics
| Metric | Use when |
|---|---|
| Bandwidth | Analyzing peak capacity and planning capacity upgrades |
| Traffic | Estimating monthly billing and cost allocation |
| HTTPS requests | Auditing secure request volume |
| QUIC requests | Evaluating QUIC protocol adoption |
Time granularity
The available time granularity, query range, and historical data depth differ between the console and the API.
CDN console
| Time granularity | Maximum time range per query | Historical data available | Data delay |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5 minutes | 3 days | Last 6 months | 15 minutes |
| 1 hour | 31 days | Last 6 months | 4 hours |
| 1 day | 31 days | Last 6 months | 04:00 on the next day |
API operations
| Time granularity | Maximum time range per query | Historical data available | Data delay |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5 minutes | 3 days | 93 days | 15 minutes |
| 1 hour | 31 days | 186 days | 4 hours |
| 1 day | 366 days | 366 days | 04:00 on the next day |
The API supports longer query ranges and retains historical data for longer periods than the console. Historical data retention varies by granularity: 93 days for 5-minute data, 186 days for 1-hour data, and 366 days for 1-day data.
Query resource usage details
Log on to the Alibaba Cloud CDN console.
In the left-side navigation pane, click Usage.
On the Usage page, select the metric you want to query and set the filter conditions. The following figure shows the resource usage data for the last 30 days across all domain names. The table below the chart lists daily resource usage data.
API reference
Use DescribeDomainUsageData to query usage data for domain names in a specified billable region programmatically.
What's next
Resource monitoring — monitor traffic by end-user region or ISP
Real-time monitoring — observe live CDN traffic