Subject: Detailed Question on CDN Bandwidth: Origin-to-Edge vs Edge-to-User Traffic
Hello,
I would like to clearly understand how CDN bandwidth is counted for DigitalOcean Spaces, especially the difference between origin-to-edge traffic and edge-to-user traffic.
Here is a concrete example:
-
I have 400 GB of content stored in DigitalOcean Spaces (origin).
-
The CDN fetches this content from Spaces once and stores it on the edge (initial cache fill).
-
After that, 10 different users download the same content.
-
All user requests are 100% cache hits (no further requests from edge to origin).
My questions are:
-
Is only the initial 400 GB transfer from Spaces (origin) to CDN edge counted as bandwidth usage?
-
Or is each download from CDN edge to end users also counted toward CDN bandwidth, resulting in 400 GB × 10 = 4,000 GB total usage?
In other words:
-
Does DigitalOcean CDN billing count only origin → edge traffic, or
-
Does it also count edge → user traffic, even when all requests are cache hits?
A clear explanation of what traffic is included in CDN bandwidth billing would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you for your time.
This textbox defaults to using Markdown to format your answer.
You can type !ref in this text area to quickly search our full set of tutorials, documentation & marketplace offerings and insert the link!
Heya,
In your example, the initial 400 GB fetched from Spaces to the CDN edge is not what drives CDN bandwidth costs. That origin → edge transfer is internal and relatively minor from a billing perspective.
What is counted is every byte served from the CDN edge to end users. So if 10 users each download the same 400 GB and all requests are cache hits, you’re billed for roughly 4,000 GB of CDN bandwidth.
So in practice:
-
Origin → edge: happens once, not the main cost driver
-
Edge → user: counted every time, even on 100% cache hits
This is how CDNs generally work: caching reduces origin load and latency, but bandwidth billing is based on what’s delivered to users.
Become a contributor for community
Get paid to write technical tutorials and select a tech-focused charity to receive a matching donation.
DigitalOcean Documentation
Full documentation for every DigitalOcean product.
Resources for startups and SMBs
The Wave has everything you need to know about building a business, from raising funding to marketing your product.
The developer cloud
Scale up as you grow — whether you're running one virtual machine or ten thousand.
Get started for free
Sign up and get $200 in credit for your first 60 days with DigitalOcean.*
*This promotional offer applies to new accounts only.