WebDev: Handling Large Files

With the release of my post on Vagrant, I discovered a personal need I had to host and store large files, semi-professionally, without much hassle. After considering Dropbox, various file lockers, or uploading the file to my webserver, I decided to use Rackspace Cloud Files.

I’ve talked about Rackspace in the past, and am currently using their cloud servers to host this site (among others). The interface is clean, easy to use, and it’s reliable. I wanted to have downloads from my site coming from files.samurailink3.com, it just looks better and provides a more cohesive user experience. I solved this problem very quickly by using a CNAME. It was really really easy. Check it out:

First, create a new public CDN container. Next, click on the gear and hit “View All Links…”. Copy the http or https link and take a look at it: http://somerandomjunk.ssl.cf2.rackcdn.com

Head over to your domain host and go to your DNS settings. You’ll need to create a new CNAME record. I’ve named mine files.

Take the fully qualified domain from your link, minus the http:// and make that the target host of your new CNAME. Like this:

Type: CNAME
Host: files
Target Host: somerandomjunk.ssl.cf2.rackcdn.com

You can now upload files and head to http://files.example.com/myfile.mp3 to access those huge files, without bogging down your web server.