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Accelerating IBM WebSphere Commerce with Akamai for Static Content Delivery

by | Dec 2, 2025 | Blog, DevOps

Accelerating IBM WebSphere Commerce with Akamai for Static Content Delivery

SUMMARY:

Organizations utilizing IBM WebSphere Commerce can drastically improve page load speeds, scalability, and search engine rankings by offloading static assets—such as images and scripts—to the Akamai Content Delivery Network (CDN), effectively reducing the load on origin servers.

  • Akamai operates as a cloud-based reverse proxy rather than locally installed software, requiring administrators to configure it to sit between users and the application server to manage traffic and caching.
  • The implementation process involves creating a new property in the Akamai Control Centre, defining the origin hostname (the backend), and assigning an Edge Hostname for user connections.
  • Finalizing the setup requires updating DNS records to map the domain to Akamai via CNAME and validating the configuration by monitoring specific headers like X-Cache: TCP_HIT to ensure assets are serving correctly.
  • Advanced configuration can be managed via the Akamai CLI using YAML to define specific behaviors, such as setting long max-age caching policies for image directories.

Implementing this enterprise-grade CDN strategy is a proven way to eliminate performance bottlenecks and ensure a responsive, scalable eCommerce environment.

Table of contents

Key Benefits of Akamai WebSphere Commerce CDN and Implementation

  • Faster page loads for end-users 
  • Improved SEO (search engines favour fast sites)
  • Offloaded bandwidth from origin servers
  • Custom domain-based caching via Akamai
  • Offload static content (JS, CSS, images)
  • Use subdomains or CNAMEs mapped to Akamai (e.g., static.domain.com)
  • Dynamically generate asset URLs using a custom JSP tag handler

How to install Akamai

Akamai is a cloud-based service—not a software package you “install” locally. Instead of being installed like an app or agent, Akamai is configured via the cloud, and it works as a reverse proxy between your users and your application (web server or origin)

1. Get Access to Akamai (Akamai contract/account).

2. Create a New Property (Site Configuration) – (Go to Property Manager in Akamai Control Centre & Click “Create New Property”)

3. Set the Origin – Origin Hostname = your backend (e.g., origin.example.com). Set protocol: HTTP or HTTPS, Optional: add origin path (e.g., /webapp)

4. Add Rules for Behaviour Cache rules (e.g., cache images for 30 days), Forwarding rules, WAF settings, Redirects, headers, compression, etc.

5. Assign an Edge Hostname (www.example.com.edgesuite.net). This is where users will connect — it routes through Akamai’s edge servers.

6. Update Your DNS (Go Live) – (In your DNS provider (e.g., GoDaddy, Cloudflare, Route53) – www.example.com → CNAME → www.example.com.edgesuite.net). Now, traffic to your domain goes through Akamai.

7. Test & Monitor (Use Akamai tools or curl to test responses, check for Akamai headers like:

  • X-Cache: TCP_HIT
  • X-Akamai-Edges cape

Monitor performance, caching, and security analytics in the Control Centre.)

Akamai Property Configuration in YAML (via Akamai CLI)

Basic Akamai Property Manager configuration in YAML using the Akamai CLI and the Property Manager (pm) module:

rules:
  name: default
  behaviours:
    - name: cpCode
      options:
        value:
          id: 123456  # your CP code
    - name: caching
      options:
        behavior: CACHING_OPTIMIZED
  children:
    - name: /images
      criteria:
        - name: url-path
          options:
            matchOperator: MATCHES_ONE_OF
            values:
              - /images/*
      behaviors:
        - name: caching
          options:
            behavior: CACHING_LONG_MAX_AGE

Conclusion

Akamai’s CDN is an essential, enterprise-grade solution for IBM WebSphere Commerce, tackling slow page loads caused by growing static content. By offloading assets such as images and scripts, businesses achieve dramatically faster performance, improved SEO, and reduced origin server load. Implementing this proven strategy is straightforward and critical for maximizing the platform’s scalability and success.

Contact us for more info.