A content delivery network (CDN) is a collection of geographically distributed servers that work together to provide fast delivery of Internet content. CDNs store or cache copies of content at strategically located data centers around the world. When a user requests content that is available from a CDN, the CDN delivers the content from the server that is closest to the user’s location. This reduces latency and improves content delivery speed.
A CDN is composed of two types of servers:
CDNs offer many benefits, including:
Improved content delivery speed: CDNs can improve the delivery speed of your content by caching or storing copies of the content at strategically located data centers around the world. When a user requests content that is available from a CDN, the CDN can deliver the content from the server that is closest to the user’s location, which reduces latency and improves content delivery speed.
Increased capacity and reliability: CDNs can help you scale your content delivery to meet spikes in demand by distributing the delivery load across a large number of servers. This can help prevent your content from being unavailable or slow to load during periods of high traffic.
Enhanced security: CDNs can help protect your content from distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks by absorbing and deflecting the traffic that would otherwise be directed at your origin servers.
CDNs are commonly used to deliver content that is:
Static: Static content includes HTML pages, images, CSS files, and JavaScript files.
Dynamic: Dynamic content includes videos, live streams, and audio files.
Application data: Application data includes API calls, database queries, and other data that is generated by applications.
When choosing a CDN, there are a few things to consider, including:
What type of content will you be delivering? If you plan on delivering static content, like HTML pages and images, you can choose a CDN that specializes in static content delivery. If you plan on delivering dynamic content, like videos and live streams, you can choose a CDN that specializes in dynamic content delivery.
What is your budget? CDNs vary in price, so it’s important to choose a CDN that fits your budget.
What are your performance goals? CDNs vary in terms of performance, so it’s important to choose a CDN that can help you meet your performance goals.
What are your security needs? CDNs vary in terms of security, so it’s important to choose a CDN that can help you meet your security needs.
Content delivery networks (CDNs) are a collection of geographically distributed servers that work together to provide fast delivery of content. CDNs store or cache copies of content at strategically located data centers around the world. When a user requests content that is available from a CDN, the CDN delivers the content from the server that is closest to the user’s location, which reduces latency and improves content delivery speed.