CDN is currently very popular. It works backstage, so don’t worry if you haven’t heard of it. Without it, a lot of companies all around the world would not be able to deliver their content to their visitors.
Thanks to the CDN, you can have your music, movie, news, or social network’s images quickly in milliseconds. Right when you want them. So let’s explain a little bit more about it.
What does CDN mean?
A content delivery network, or CDN for short, is a network of servers. It covers a significant geographic area, and these servers are placed in very specific locations. The purpose of such a thing is to fully cover the area from where the potential clients come from. When you have servers that cache data (video, images, etc.) closer to your visitors, you are capable of providing faster service. Furthermore, their experience is going to be better.
How does CDN work?
CDN requires a big servers’ network for caching data, which is the desired content that is going to be distributed to a particular group of customers from different locations. So, it’s essential to get that infrastructure. Thus, providers of CDN strategically place their PoPs. It demands analysis of Internet exchange points (IXPs), that physical infrastructure Internet service providers (ISP) are applying. Exactly on those IXPs, the location and speed are the most useful. Providers of CDN have to determine the location of the PoPs. Otherwise, if they choose to establish them in each available IXP, it could be extremely expensive.
When you are using GeoDNS, your website visitors will connect to the closest server to them. This is a really effective connection that doesn’t depend on receiving the information from the web hosting. It saves you a lot of time, which is great for your business.
The CDN providers do not directly own the infrastructure. They are making use of the already existing one. Providers of CDN are offering their service, and customers choose them for delivering their content to their users. Afterward, CDNs are paying the carriers, ISPs, and operators of networks to use their data centers to host CDNs’ servers.
How to create a CDN?
If you want to build even a simple content delivery network, you are going to need the following things:
- First: a domain name or a subdomain
- Second: at least two servers in separate areas. These servers could be virtual or dedicated.
- Last: GeoDNS tool. When you are implementing it, visitors making a request to the domain are sent to the server closest to them.
Main advantages
Content Delivery Network (CDN) has its proven benefits. The main advantages of implementing CDN services include the following:
- Your content availability is significantly increased. CDNs handle more traffic and help with avoiding network failures, rather than the origin server, which is placed far away from some visitors.
- Your webpage will load faster. Your customers won’t abandon it, like a slow-loading site or e-commerce application where purchases are left only in the shopping cart.
- Adding a various mix of web content optimization and performance services that are beneficial for cached site content.
Conclusion
High speed is one of the critical factors for defining the website’s efficiency. Better performance and satisfying users’ experiences are possible with CDN.