0
skyjames

Akamai Q for computer nerds

Recommended Posts

Anyone know how to prevent/STOP akamai and/or cloudfront from using bandwidth.

Chrome, Win 1709 build
(did extensions n apps check and no progs on HD)

Mostly background usage but it adds up to GB's and no jobs ordered.

I stopped BITS from running and will see what that accomplishes, if anything.

Web is virtually null of info I seek.
thx

"exit fast, fly smooth, dock soft and smile"
'nother james

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Akamai and Cloudfront are Content Distribution Networks that are serving up content for thousands of webpages. They basically are mini nodes closer to your location so that when you make a request of a page it does not have to send all the data to you from Seattle if you are in Miami - it instead can see that Akamai has a mirror of that file in Orlando so it sends that file to you instead - allow for faster downloads and its cheaper on the backend for the hosting site.

Lets say you go to a news website - that site might be hosted in Switzerland but you live in Texas - the site would use Cloudfront to store mirrors of all the video files at dozens of locations around the world so that when you click play on "NewsSiteSwitzerland.com" it is really pointing to a file that is at NewsSiteSwitzerland.cloudfront.com - then when you want to play that file they figure out that getting it from Dallas is the fastest path for you instead of needing to transfer it over a slow link would be in the way if it needed to be pulled from Switzerland.

You do NOT want to block those sites or else major parts of a lot of site will stop showing or working for you.
Yesterday is history
And tomorrow is a mystery

Parachutemanuals.com

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Thanks for the response ... even though my question was not answered.

I know Akamai and Cloudfront (and others) are CDN's. Hubs if you will (nodes)
What many don't know or understand is how they go about doing what they do. Since you took time to reply I will do the same.

They do serve a function, that's not what I asked, I want to know how to block them ... and only those two out of the many that provide the same service. (for a fee from companies)

They push content to a client without having to wait for a request (job) from a browser. This can improve page load times by pushing static assets down to the browser while Akamai or Cloudfront fetches content from origin servers.
This is even if you are not going to view the pages they push. For those that don't know what the hell I am talking about ... liken it to unwanted newspapers tossed on your lawn, you don't want them, but what the hell ... they are ready for you to read anytime.

If they waited for a demand, I would be okay with it, but they don't. Using information the CDN customers have collected from you (via cookies, web page visits etc) they anticipate what you might want to see and static load it on your browser. Like the newspapers on your lawn they hope you read (open) them. Just like the wasted newspaper you toss, you also toss unused (by you) data. It adds up

This loading of stand-by info cost the end user (me) data even if I don't want it.

Amazon is KING of this crap, Google is a close second. I don't shop at amazon. It's getting harder and harder to avoid them though. Try buying something on the internet without seeing BUY IT NOW on Amazon on every other item.

Google uses Akamai, Amazon uses Cloudfront. Google is launching it's own cloud based CDN (VentureBeat). You can bet it will compete with Akamai and Cloudfront soon.

My bottom line is I don't want pushed data eating up my limited allowance. Hence, how can I stop it. I didn't add earlier that I wanted the option of killing it when I felt like it and turning it on likewise. If I can do one, I can do the other.

So far the only way to stop Google (and youtube, Google owns that) is not to use Chrome, I ditched it for FireFox. Now Akamai doesn't show up on GlassWire at all. 200~500 unused MB's a day saved. Amazon is a beast, but I will find a way. I use Google search on FireFox so finger points at Chrome.

Blocking in Host files doesn't help. They have so many servers (1,000's) around the world it's useless, they just bump it to another one of their servers. Dog chasing it's tail.

Yeah, I'm living in the horse and buggy days when things were simpler and honesty was more prevalent. People pay $200 a month to watch TV these days. Their dime. My connection cost to the internet is based on data usage, if I don't want unwanted data, why should I pay for it. Just thought I would toss the Q out to see if anyone had answers, never know who reads these posts.

Your sales pitch was nice, thanks for the reply. :-D

"exit fast, fly smooth, dock soft and smile"
'nother james

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
I think something on your PC must be downloading an update. There's not likely going to be an easy way to stop it from happening without seriously breaking some other things.

If you are really concerned with it, you could set up a local DNS server and blackhole all of the domains... but good luck with using the internet with that enabled.

The CDNs don't typically "push" to you and it would be kind of hard to do with your computer behind a NAT and not using port forwarding on your router. A device on your network is most likely requesting updates. On Windows 10 (maybe 8 as well) you can set your connection type to 'metered' and that's supposed to stop it from doing background downloads but I've never tried that.
"I may be a dirty pirate hooker...but I'm not about to go stand on the corner." iluvtofly
DPH -7, TDS 578, Muff 5153, SCR 14890
I'm an asshole, and I approve this message

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
theonlyski


The CDNs don't typically "push" to you and it would be kind of hard to do with your computer behind a NAT and not using port forwarding on your router.



And...you would need a browser that listened on a port for incoming connections.:D:D:D
"There are only three things of value: younger women, faster airplanes, and bigger crocodiles" - Arthur Jones.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
ryoder

***
The CDNs don't typically "push" to you and it would be kind of hard to do with your computer behind a NAT and not using port forwarding on your router.



And...you would need a browser that listened on a port for incoming connections.:D:D:D

Yeah, I forgot about the whole browser part. :D
"I may be a dirty pirate hooker...but I'm not about to go stand on the corner." iluvtofly
DPH -7, TDS 578, Muff 5153, SCR 14890
I'm an asshole, and I approve this message

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Quote

I think something on your PC must be downloading an update.



This was for a friends computer. Yes, it was DLing but not updates.
Anyone that helps a friend with computer issues without having physical access to it is ham stringed from the start. Especially if your friend is not computer literate.

TeamViewer13 helped with that.

They are using satellite and are data limited by usage costs. (horrible up and down mb's too)

After they (I) dumped Chrome, unwanted background usage dropped dramatically.

Likely culprit was an add-on or extension they DL'ed and later deleted, that left it's calling card behind.
Whatever it was, it was associated with Chrome and liked Akamai a lot :-)

Aside from 2 security progs, I installed OpenDNS , those should take care of any malicious site DL's in the future. Once you've updated to Win10 1709, you can't roll back to the days of wine and roses.

Thanks for the response(s)

"exit fast, fly smooth, dock soft and smile"
'nother james

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

0