What is a content delivery network? | Ottawa, ON

A CDN or content delivery network is a network of interconnected servers that speeds up webpage loading for data heavy applications. CDN may also stand for content distribution network.

When a user visits a website, data from the website’s server has to travel across the internet to the user’s computer. If the user is across on the other side of the world from the server, it will take a long time to load large files like videos or images. However, if the website’s content is stored closer to the user geographically on a CDN then the content will reach the user faster. The idea behind a CDN is store content for your website closer to where the user is located. But why would want this?

Why a Content delivery network?

Using a CDN reduces the latency, reduces the delay in communication of information from a website (server) and a user (client) due to a network’s design.
Efficiency is improved by introducing intermediate servers between clients and webservers.
CDN’s decrease web traffic to the web server; they reduce bandwidth consumption; they improve user experience.

Benefits of a content delivery network

Reduce page load time.
Reduce bandwidth costs.
Increase content availability.
Improve website security.

A CDN can deliver both static content and dynamic content. What kinds of sites would need such a resource? A local business with a website that just needs to reach “local” customers, say a restaurant, , shoe store, yoga studio, would not need the use of a CDN. However, a business that is global or an ecommerce store that is selling products in different countries and continents would benefit from a CDN. For example a SaaS business or even Amazon.

This is brief overview of what a CDN is, why it’s useful and the benefits.

Reference:

https://aws.amazon.com/what-is/cdn/

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Lani Haque

I enjoy learning and sharing that knowledge.Sharing has been in many forms over the years, as a teaching assistant, university lecturer, Pilates instructor, math tutor and just sharing with friends and family.Throughout, summarizing what I have learnt in words has always been there and continues to through blog posts, articles, video and the ever growing forms of content out there!